Since I’ve been in Guyana I’ve heard and read a few dozen times that “happiness is a choice”. I don’t know where this has been hiding the past 21 years, but it has been prominent as ever the past few months. Not that I’m finding myself not happy on a regular basis, but when daily life is a challenge its become totally necessary to remember that I can be happy if I want to be happy.
In Guyana, I’ve found happiness in:
- Cool breezes
- Swimming with the boys from the orphanage each week
- My community roommates and pals
- STRANGER KINDNESS (this is huge; the “good morning/.day/afternoon/night” from passer-bys here is uplifting, random hospitality is comforting–its all good stuff)
- Realizing the kids at school think I’m cool
- Seeing extreme things (i.e., the baby alligator, passing goats, horses and cows on my walk to the hospital, 22 people being stuffed into a 15-person minibus)
- Waking up “chilly” (its probably still 80 degrees, but it feels chilly)
- Talking to my family and friends at home
- All that fresh fruit from the market
- Seeing familiar faces out and about the city
I really am happy here. I choose to be, and those things (^) make it easy.
Annie Goes to Guyana 