The Good Life Is Anywhere

The Daily Stoic for August 3rd. “The Good Life Is Anywhere”.

“At this moment you aren’t on a journey, but wandering about, being driven from place to place, even though what you seek—to live well—is found in all places. Is there any place more full of confusion than the Forum? Yet even there you can live at peace, if needed.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 28.5b–6a

I love today’s stoic teaching. Because I think it’s so true.

Just as we postpone living the life we want until some future event happens -i.e: when I finish college, when my children grow up, when I end up paying the mortgage…- we do the same with places.

We think we will be happier somewhere else, and we are always looking for that greener grass instead of trying to be happy where we are, right here and now.

The Good Life Is Anywhere

By the end of September, we will leave Riga and get back to Spain for some weeks before traveling to Chiang Mai. My parents are renewing their vows, and I am honored to be the godfather of the ceremony :).

So in a way, even though we’ll still stay in Latvia for a month still, our minds are already in Thailand.

The other day, we were having a coffee a couple of fellow digital nomads and friends here in Riga. At a certain point, the conversation focused on our future travel plans. As I have mentioned before, Latvians, even though quite polite and respectful people, are not easy to talk to or befriend. So the general consensus was that we will be happier in Thailand, given that Thai people are famous for being very friendly, and also due to the fact that there’s a huge digital nomad community there.

While I can certainly see the point there -It’s very difficult to make friends in Latvia and easy to feel isolated and lonely- there are still a lot of ways you can meet people here. Even if you don’t, feeling happy depends on us. Yes, it’s true that human interaction is important for happiness, but still, I believe you can be happy anywhere you go. You just need to spend more time and effort in some places.

Conclusion

Today’s Daily Stoic, “The Good Life Is Anywhere”, discusses how happiness is not tied to a certain place. We all can be happy anywhere, even though some places make it easier for you than others.