THE GOOD LIFE…

If you enjoy the sunset as much as the rising sun mesmerizes you, everything in between is just the fill of a cup of joy. NK

Happiness is extreme; joy would be more fitting for one living in bliss. NK

Throughout history, man has tried in vain to create ‘Nirvana/heaven’ on earth. NK

The utopian world exists only in the mind. It does not exist in the real world. A homeless man stumbling upon a discarded sofa where he can pass the night in comfort is no less happy than a rich man screaming at the hotel maintenance for the humming of an old air-conditioner that gave him a sleepless night.  A street boy who picks up a discarded half-consumed burger from the garbage is no less happy than the discontented customer who left it uneaten. We all have our moments of bliss. NK

Kings and emperors have promised their subjects heaven on earth. They have slaughtered millions trying to achieve that goal only to create hell that makes the angels cry in heaven. NK

The USA waged wars on all continents. Every US president has promised to damn the rest of the world if it must to protect a single American life; to safeguard the USA’s democratic way of life. “They (Muslims) hate us,” President Bush thundered, “because of our (utopian) way of life,” and I NK says LOL! America’s utopian way of life is a farce to the extreme. Good-hearted young men and women join the USA’s military to save for college education. The government sends them either to die in war or be forever scarred by the horrors of war. The government turned them into repentant murderers. Bothered by their conscience, many lose their sanity while many others are physically disabled for life. NK

There has to be something absolutely wrong with a super-power nation lording it over the rest of us while living in the fantasy world of animation where every time, it’s number one (Frozen) at the box office. Imagine Mickey Mouse, lord of the chain that shackles the world. NK

I can define the good life in only two words, and most, if not all, of mankind, will agree with me: “worry-free,” in which case, no life is truly good, but hey, life is a joy. The trick is to tread along the path of life without falling into its many holes, and if and when one tumbles down, he must get up as quick as the fall. Defining the “Good Life” is futile because you define beauty as being “…in the eyes of the beholder,” and so is the good life. NK

When I was young, I used to visit my uncle’s (Pondiong) family in the Barrio. My cousins knew how much I enjoyed riding their ‘albino water buffalo,’ so whenever I showed up, they would hand me its rope to graze. Looking back, riding the red-skinned white beast was a joy that I cherish to this day. It is no less nostalgic than driving my car (I no longer have one) in the middle of Makati’s traffic.

NK