I love the little things of life that make people happy.
Here in Uganda, I'm finding more and more how simple life really is and how little we really need to be content.
I have seen Ugandan children find joy in pushing a spare tire around with a stick, in kicking around a plastic bag filled with air, in chasing after me and my friends when we go on runs, and in saying hello to and getting acknowledged by us "muzungus".
My team has found joy this month in seeing if the wind will blow out the candles we eat by at night, in talking about our childhoods with each other, in watching Lord of the Rings together before we go to sleep each night, in riding boda-bodas (motorcycles) together as we travel around town, and in drinking tea day and night together.
We people really don't need much to be satisfied in life. We really don't.
Earlier this week we had our "off-day" and I spent it with my four best friends on the Race. We were planning on going to a swimming pool in the area and hanging out there all afternoon, but much to our dismay… It rained. I can't say that we weren't expecting this to happen, because here in Uganda we have just entered into the rainy season in which it faithfully downpours for a couple of hours each afternoon.
So we sat there for a minute and debated what to do. Stay in town and wait for the rain to stop – which could potentially take hours? Or stick to the original plan – rain and all?
It really wasn't a hard decision to make… At this point on the race all of us are up to most anything and not much really phases us when it comes to things not going the way we planned…
So we packed up all of our things and walked out into the rain on an adventure that quickly became one of my favorites of the year.
After picking up some wine from the store, failing to bargain with some boda-boda drivers to take us where we wanted to go for the price we wanted, and attempting to get onto a radio station that we walked past, we ended up at the swimming pool we had planned on going to. Here we simply sat outside at an umbrella-covered table and talked for hours while sipping on the wine we bought. We talked and laughed and shouted about anything and everything in life, and it was beautiful.
It was one of those moments that makes you sit back, smile, and take a mental picture that you hope will last for forever.
It was one of those moments that reminds you of the fact that we really don't need much in life to be content… That life is so simple… And in its' simplicity is so beautiful.
