Theory of Relativity

Einstein had his own theory, but what does he know? Bet he's never been to Sudan either.

The thing is, everything is relative! As humans we have the inherent instinct of comparing. We compare everything we experience all the time. That means our experiences become our standards. And our happiness then rests on those standards.

Interesting discovery on the above; Sudan is a very expensive country (relatively!). For example a kilo of tomatos goes for around US$ 5, and a kilo of raw chicken would sometimes reach US$ 15. With so much poverty around, I wondered how the majority of the population manage to live. A colleague explained to me that most of them just eat Foul (which is a type of cooked chickpeas) with bread and water.
Once, at a dinner, my colleague offered his chaufeur to join him for a bite, since he was going to be late. The chaufeur adamantly refused to eat anything except Foul, because he did not want to get used to any other taste. He knew he wouldn't be able to afford to eat anything else. That's what they eat all the time, and that's what they will always eat.
So in a way he didn't want to set a new standard of relativity, which would interrupt his hapiness. Ignorance is bliss.

It also works the other way round. Since my arrival, I have been getting gradually more accustomed to a new standard of living. What seemed to me unaceptable 2 weeks ago, has now become my new standard. It's all relative. When I first entered the hotel I'm staying at 2 weeks ago, my first thoughts were 'ok, I can probably make it through the night today, but tomorrow I'm looking for a new place tomorrow'. I've been there now for 2 weeks and I got used to it.

Last night I had dinner with my 2 new found friends: An Argentinian journalist, who is passionate about journalistic filming and marketing, and his Sweedish colleague who is passionate about sales - and very good at it too (she can sell ice to an eskimo). In our conversation, a lot of my observations and frustrations about the country were now not even noticed by Lorenzo and Leila. They seemed quite comfortable with their surroundings. Once you adjust your standards relative with your environment your happiness increases.

Einstein managed to prove all that mathematically. And without ever having to come to Sudan! I guess that's why they call him a genious.