I was driving up a mountain area on an dirt road and stopped to get some water.
It was a tiny mountain village in the middle of nowhere. It looks flat but it’s on a nice elevation and I had to burn a lot of diesel to get this far.
Being in such a remote location means these villagers don’t have access to modern facilities like running water, gas pipelines, and the like.
They do have electricity (you can see the electric poles in the background) thanks to the Government of India’s initiative to electrify every village.
Unlike city kids who play video games all day, the kids of this village help their families in their day to day activities:
There’s not much there but the life is simple. The food is natural, the air is clean (except for the subtle tinge of goats and cattle), and the people work hard to get by.
I was almost embarrassed by the fact that the car I used to drive up there could buy half a dozen houses here. The people here are that poor.
Despite their poverty, the people had an innate sense of calm and well being that you don’t usually see in decadent and degenerate city dwellers.
They may not have high end computers and expensive cars, but they’ve got cattle and good natural food so all is well.
Visiting this village made me realize all the small things I took for granted.
- A full wallet (I was carrying around a few months of these people’s incomes in spare change.)
- A tank full of diesel (Most of these people have to walk everywhere – including up and down the mountain.)
- A good night’s sleep (I was exhausted after a night on the wheel.)
- Being big and strong (Everyone here was tiny – mountain people are usually short.)
- Access to doctors and other facilities if I ever needed them
- Not having to fetch wood in the morning so I can make some breakfast
- A family that cares for me and my well being (If I got lost or became incapacitated here, people would show up looking for me in less than 2 days)
I realized I had so much more than I thought.
Of course the testosterone in my blood makes me want to go out and get more, but it’s good to relax every once in a while and realize that you have plenty.
Cities are degenerate stressful environments where everyone’s always running around. You see 10000 people a day and talk to none of them. In a village, you see 10 people everyday and talk to all of them.
When you step outside the city, you realize you’re in a rat race with no end and that you need very little to be happy.
Don’t get me wrong. You should not become lazy and complacent. We are men and we should strive for more.
But it needs to be done in a sustainable tempo. You don’t want to become a high stress type A person who dies of a burst artery at 32.
Build. But enjoy the process of building.
Don’t burn yourself out.
If you do get burned out, step outside of the city to get some fresh air and climb some mountains.
– Harsh Strongman
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