Back from my crazy overseas trips and back to my crazy mess.
Korea trip was great, Myanmar trip completes every awesomeness residing in June. It's funny how everytime after I come back from a third world county, and I feel things are so expensive in sg. Imagine a can of coke is worth a very good meal to them and a meal to me is equivalent to the daily wage of the workers there.
I remember a time after my first Cambodia trip, I felt a little guilty while I was indulging in my can of soft drinks. Like here I am enjoying myself on a hot sweaty day but the people in Cambodia will never enjoy such luxury. Well, day after day, that feeling starts to wear off and I get numbed by the daily demands.
So the next time I went to Cambodia, I felt less of that. I guess you call that marginal utility though the reality of what's happening in the other side of the world never quite changed.
Fast forward to today, it's been quite a few trips for me already. Twice to Cambodia, once to Vietnam, twice to Myanmar. Do I feel nothing at all? And shld I feel bad to feel nothing? To be fair, we are really different from them who are in those countries. The opportunities, environment and expectations are so different. It's just difficult to compare because it's like comparing apples with oranges. Yet there is one thing I took back after this trip. And that is: Live Simply.
My encounters with the people in the third world nations simply showed me the resilience of human beings. It doesn't take a lot to get by life. They don't have clean water, good sanitary and nutritious food. Yet, they are still happy. For us, we get upset and depressed when we don't get our branded bags, eat in our favorite restaurants or even get enough likes for our fb posts!
I want to live simply more than ever before. I hope that my lifestyle will not become more expensive as my income grows. In fact, my giving and generosity should increase with any blessings that come my way. Oh no, don't be mistaken. I will still indulge in myself once in a while but I'm just saying no to a mindset that says.. "since I'm earning more, I can just spend more and commit to unnecessary monthly expenses because I can afford it."
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