Does having everything sometimes leave you with the feeling of having absolutely nothing?

Last year I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in my favourite place on Earth (with the exception of my Mum’s living room;) Santorini.

The sunset, the crisp air, the blue skies and the incredible sunsets. No where in the World will ever compare.

Earlier this year, we opted for a little get away to Thailand. Sat on a beautiful white beach watching the same sun set over a slightly different sea bed with only few worries occupying my mind..and I felt nothing. Zero. My head told me it was beautiful, but my heart felt a little lazy to wake up and appreciate it.

It was more humid than Santorini. The colours of the sun were not quite as vibrant somehow and the Aperol Spritz in my hand was not
chilled to the same level of perfection.

No. Thank you Thailand, but you are just not as good as my favourite place.

That’s the trouble though isn’t it? Once you’ve had a taste of the sweetest pie, nothing else quite compares.

I always parallel sugar and sugar resistance in diabetes to the analogy of myself and Hugh Jackman when giving lectures. If I saw Hugh Jackman tomorrow, I would be pretty damn excited. Hugh.Gorgeous.Jackman.

But show me Hugh Jackman every day and suddenly the novelty wears away. I am less interested and have become immune to his qualities.

If we have everything every day, we stop appreciating what we do have. Nothing feels luxurious, nothing feels exciting.

When I was a child, I would be so excited to go on a holiday with a naff airline, stay in a real mediocre hotel and drink sub par beverages (think Rola Cola) whilst eating overcooked, over processed food.

Today we are picky towards our aircraft carrier, spend ages selecting the ‘right’ hotel and moan and complain if the provisions are not up to our over picky standards.

I do not have everything. A long way from it – but already I do see how our senses can become saturated, like our body cells overloaded with sugar. We become resistant, to what we had initially felt, were the finer things in life.

Now any life forces out there – this does not mean that I am not keen to win the lottery should this be written in my stars, but I am keen to see a variety of life. Explore the lowest and the highest and appreciate that the naff airline, mediocre hotel and low quality f&b service has its own qualities.

Now there are many ‘fine’ things that I have not been privileged to explore. But maybe that is a good thing. Maybe now I understand why people with extremely deep pockets and all the jewels in the world are not as happy as we think they should be. Maybe still being able to appreciate things, still having excitement about something or feeling rewarded when we have worked hard to achieve something that we do not usually get to have, is much more satisfying?

jenna-and-james

#life #happiness #wellness #appreciation #mydubai

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