/Random Rambling - The grass is always greener on the other side
[don’t blame me for wasting your time with my bs – no one’s forcing you to continue reading]
I consider myself lucky to have been born into a family of backpackers.
So far I’ve spent about 25% of my life travelling or living abroad (3 years in Italy, about 3 weeks in Denmark every year [family], various festivals, road trips through Europe, impulsive vacations, weekend trips and backpacking through Egypt, Australia and Japan) Hah, I’d no idea it was that much. No wonder I’m always broke. I guess I can add travelling to my (way too long) list of current addictions.
Growing up, I used to think that Norway was decades behind the rest of the world in most ways. All I wanted was to leave the ice age and experience the wonders of the world. Sounds cheesy, but what the hell. To my great disappointment, it turns out that the rest of the world really isn’t that much better after all. So far I can list a shitload of places I’d like to revisit and kill a couple of weeks in, but no utopia where I can settle down and just be happy. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve who’s discovered that Santa’s actually just this creepy old guy next door who smells funny and wears a costume.
So far, Norway seems like the best country to live in on paper.
Just google it, and you’ll see what I mean – there’s hardly a bad word to say about this place I call home. It seems like we have it all; wealth, excellent education systems, excellent healthcare, we’re way ahead of most of the world when it comes to civil rights, we’re peaceful and the nature is truly something to be seen. Strange then, that the first thing I always notice when I return to Norway, is how genuinely miserable everyone look.
This scares and fascinates me at the same time, and I wonder how on earth people are able to feel content with this state of misery.
If the world followed Bhutan’s lead and a global measurement of Gross National Happiness (GNH) was done, I don’t think Norway would stand a chance at being in the top 50%. It makes me wonder what the relation between GNP and GNH would be, and I keep picturing it to be something like this
It’s sad, but I guess it all boils down to human nature – we all want what we can’t have. At least that goes for me. If there are no challenges in life, I get bored. Bored equals miserable.
Sure, there are people I love and people who love me, but that isn’t enough. Hah, that makes me sound horribly needy and selfish, but nevertheless, it’s true. I guess this is the price I have to pay for having an easy and carefree life – boredom.
Now please excuse me – I’m very busy being bored these days.
