No matter where we turned during our shore excursions while on our Caribbean cruise the same general philosophy prevailed … “Don’t worry, be happy.” The old Bob Marley song just kept coming to mind. While it appeared, at least to my untrained eyes, that poverty prevailed – at least a standard of living that I am not accustom to seeing at every turn in the road – nevertheless, there was laughter, smiles, and a simplicity of life that somehow has escaped us in our driven society.
The question was asked about unemployment. The answer given was that there isn’t any unemployment in the islands. If you want to work, there is work to be had. If you want to eat, you work. There is no welfare offered by the state. Totally free medical services are provided, even to those of us who were visitors to their island, along with medicine. Education is free and everyone is expected to attend – it is required by law. But, there is no government supported food stamp program, welfare or other financial support. If you want to eat you will either farm or work. Now an individual might only make $10 for 8-hours of labor, but work is available.
In Belize the government leases a piece of property to every individual when they turn 18. If in the next five years you show the government that you are working to improve that piece of property by clearing it and starting to build a home on it the property will be given to you. Also, if an individual is interested in leasing some farmland from the government they will provide up to 20 acres, but again you have to prove to the authorities that you will work that land into a produce producing farm. At some point in the process ownership of that 20 acres will be turned over to the individual.
On another island we discovered that everyone wears uniforms. Each school has a different color uniform. In this way if a police officer sees a misbehaving child or finds one lost they will know which school to take the child to. Further, every adult wears a uniform to identify which company they work for and where. But, underlining this very ordered society was the “don’t worry, be happy” philosophy.
While I was happy to be back home to my own bed and the comfort of my own home, but there was the longing to bring back with me some of that laid back thinking of the islands and the “don’t worry, be happy” philosophy. While establishing our great democratic society we have lost something in the process. We are driven to get ahead, achieve more, to obtain, to build, to purchase, to get, to have … and life is slipping beyond our grasp … just passing us by … and happiness is lost in the process. When do we have time to watch the clouds move across the sky? When do we take the time to watch the sea roll in? When do close our eyes so we can hear the bird’s song in the trees? When do we take the time to relax and have a casual conversation with our neighbors? When do we find the time for a leisurely walk down a dirt path allowing the warm earth to caress our bare feet? And, when do we permit our mind to wander through the wonders of thought just to see where it might lead?
“Don’t worry, be happy” … we have more in our small part of the world, but I began to wonder what we have lost in the process of obtaining what we have, especially when there is so much worry that comes packaged with our lifestyle.
Quote for today: Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster and belief in defeat...worry is wasting today's time to clutter up tomorrow's opportunities with yesterday's troubles. A dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops. Not much is there but it can cripple an entire city. When I don't have anything to worry about, I begin to worry about that. ~Walter Kelly
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