Are we thankful for what we have?

As I write this article, news networks report that Europe is in the midst of one of the worst cold weather episodes in history. Sleet outside your window covering everything in sight…blocked roads, dangerously slippery surfaces, the misery of long and dark evenings and shorter spells of daylight. As delightful as snow is in its first fall, especially to someone who has not seen snow before, snow can soon turn into a miserable, long stretched out period of watching nothing but more snow.

I look outside my window and I see dust yes but I see five different shades of greenery, trees swaying gently in a breeze that drives away the humidity.

I am glad. Glad that I can call Sri Lanka my home. Glad that I can walk out of the door if I so choose to get something to eat or to buy something - without having to dress right for the outdoors. I don’t need to moisturize my skin as I come out of the shower, worried my skin might dry out, I don’t need to layer my clothes so that I am dressed right for the mean outdoors with its blisteringly cold weather.

Fine living

I am thankful for the weather I have here, glad even for the dust that the rains have thankfully temporary broken, glad for the smell of sunshine on my well dried clothes, the breeze that cools a hot day, the cup of tea I can carry to the balcony where I can watch the street below and enjoy.

More deaths and disruption from the big chill in Europe

Too many of us are not thankful enough for the country we call home. Too many of us see the bad over the good. When the long neglected environs around the Independence Square were polished up to look the smartest it has ever looked, a gently winding labyrinth of jogging paths beautifully alight at night and refreshing for the eyes during the day, it was good. Very good.

It was the same with the long forgotten former Dutch Hospital which today is a chic place to shop, eat at or just look around. Colombo is beginning to acquire its own brand of elegance as a city that has been exposed to culture and fine living. Colombo the historic blends with Colombo the trendy, chic address. Now that is good - especially when visitors exclaim just how dandy the city is looking.

It feels equally good to travel to Galle on the highway. The first in the country and no matter what anyone might say, it feels great when a three hour journey is reduced to a mere hour or less. We may never be the best in the world whether in roads, city building or dengue control, but this is home and even the smallest improvement should make us feel good rather than wanting to criticize.

Unique charm

It feels good to see tourists around and hotels booked everywhere; I remember the time when the bombs used to go off and we used to walk into empty or dead hotel foyers with little or no entertainment.

I am thankful for the small mercies - when I hear hotel employees comment how they have to work hard but how they can take home a good package. Thankful for the country I call home, with its unmatched array of beauty - coast to coast, greenery on greenery, the arid dry zone with its own unique charm.

Many of us have chosen to remain here at home and not take the next flight out because we love Sri Lanka. We are thankful for what we have and choose not to miss what we don’t have or cannot aspire to. Some things will always be there - the madness, the chaos, the quaint things that make us quintessentially Sri Lankan.

It’s there in the way we do things. It’s bad when it comes packaged in the laid back verandah style of laziness that only people of a very naturally fertile and green country can display. As long as jackfruit and del trees grow, Sri Lankans will never go hungry.

Among us are those who would rather miss opportunities, even life changing ones, if there’s hard work and commitment involved. On the other hand, there are those who braved the circumstances and who went on to create success stories worthy of being written for MBA curriculums. That is who we are and some of us are able to change the way we think , live and dream so that we could do things better tomorrow than today. Yet, some will always choose to revert back to how they were and never miss a beat in doing so.

Developed societies

Some of us are born with a default desire to go abroad - just about anywhere. Their world view changes only when they cross the seas and realize just how bad things could be, even in the so called developed societies where you have to do everything by yourself.

It can turn out to be miserable and defy the very purpose you left Sri Lanka for. Some return, disappointed, yet thankful they can come back.

We need to learn to be thankful for everything we have here - even in the midst of the worst case scenario. We have a network of friends and family to fall back on. If we are committed and determined, we can always find the kind of work we would be happy doing.

We need to raise the bar - not be satisfied with pedestrian efforts which some are capable of delivering. Let us try to see what we can be thankful for in the land we call home. There is something here indeed - that makes tourists want to return again and again and inspire visitors to sometimes come back to settle for good. Let’s try to find the good and focus on it for Sri Lanka defines who we are.