I learned several new words today. One is "ngu ngoc." "Asshole." I like to practice new words as soon as possible so when I went to pick up a vegetarian grinder I taught the sidewalk vending lady how to say "asshole." She loved it. I loved it. We had a good giggle, as my British friends would say. It's one of the things that makes living here so enjoyable.
Much of my day is filled with these short encounters. My social network works well for me even though I have few, actually zero, people that I can talk about serious matters with (now that Brad killed himself). I have lived long enough to know that lasting happiness comes only from being kind, being helpful, being compassionate, being...and not doing.
Every other day someone talks about making money, investing in this or that, how about starting a language school. That's fine for someone at another stage of life. But I recognize that I am not there. I am clearly in Erikson's Generativity stage of development. As I understand it, that means concern for the next generation. For me, that means making life better for everyone younger than me. A sense of guiding and being useful. I know this is what I must do to find peace, happiness, fulfillment at this point in my life and it comes fairly easily. It only requires presence of mind. Being mindful. Reminding myself. Stopping the chattering mind and continuous thoughts every so often throughout the day.
Living in Vietnam gives me plenty of daily opportunities to be myself. And I am thankful for that.
And after 4 and a half months here I am thankful to be going home to be with my family and spend the summer being useful to the next generation of my own flesh and blood. Life is good. I'm happy here and there. Can anyone ask for more?
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