I feel over these past two weeks I have witnessed a growing of understanding of what motivates me and the people around me to be happy and make others happy; it is the giving of something selflessly from one person to the next. The absolute generosity of the villagers comes from their happiness of making it nicer for us-from giving to us. They were delighted by the way they selflessly dressed us in their attire, and when I gave my gift (the soccer ball and pump) to the children living in our homestay and showed them how to replace the nozzles on the pump, they were grinning ear to ear and so was I.
Nothing brings a more reliable and greater sense of happiness than sparking it in others does. Before this trip I had a sense of this ideology, but being on this trip helped me live it.
On another note, the trip was not all smiles and giving; it was hard labor, sleepless nights, and unfamiliar settings. At first I had a gnawing thought on the edge of my mind: I wished the trip were easier. But now I can recognize that the trip would have been worth less without those bitter points. It is the sour surrounding the sweet that makes the sweet so much more cherished. Had we not struggled, the rewards would have been sawdust in our mouth.
The little and big points of happiness on this trip stand out so much more against a painful background than it would have amongst an endless sea of bliss. The karats of our smiles and laughter were measured by the struggles had only moments before. What worth is a smile if it springs forth every moment? Why care for a laugh if you can laugh at anything? It is the increasing rarity of those smiles and laughs that makes them bring so much more happiness.