Enough

Yesterday as I cycled through Aqueduct Park in Rome I saw a guy hoeing the path in front of me. I didn’t think much of it but then, as I pedaled past him, I saw that he had a gloriously overloaded bike of his own, with gardening tools and a trailer, plus a radio that was playing a merry tune. He smiled as he saw me and stood to one side to let me get past, his shirt off and skin shining with sweat in the autumn sunshine. I got about 50 yards further up before doing a U-ey and coming back to him.

We then had a conversation (translated from Italian).

“Excuse me, could I take your picture?”

“Err why?”

“You are quite possibly the happiest person I’ve seen in a very long time. I’m an English teacher, I’d love to show my students a picture of you and what it means to be grateful for what you have”.

“Still not sure what you mean…”

“Let’s put it this way. You are maintaining a 2000 year old park with a big smile on your face and clearly enjoying your life. I wish I was as happy as you”.

(Laughing) “Well, I’m 70 and I do this for free, we’re part of an initiative to get the paths sorted out, they tend to flood when it rains”.

“Was built by the emperor Caligula wasn’t it?”

“Started by him, finished by Claudius. Sure, you can take my photo”.

He poses next to his fancy bicycle and gives me a fist bump. “Nice to meet you” then carries on hoeing the dirt.

Now…this guy was happy to be, at the ripe old age of 70, gardening for free in a public park. He was happy and content and enjoying himself. And it made me think.

I have two jobs. I have a “monolocale” apartment (bedsit with A levels). I live in one of the most beautiful cities on Earth. I own a bicycle worth 450 Euros that I got second hand for 50 Euros. I always have enough food, clothes and money to get by. I can hop on the bus and be in the centre of Rome within an hour. I get to spend my weekends looking at the glories of an ancient civilization. I have a card that cost me 5 Euros that gets me into all the museums in Rome for FREE for a year. I have a travel pass that costs me 35 Euros that lets me use all public transport for a month. One of my favourite film directors lives locally and considers me a friend and I get to hang out with him every couple of months. I am fit and strong and keep myself busy…and yet…I always think there should be more.

I’m not as rich as I wish I was. I wish I had a scooter instead of a bicycle. I wish I had a motorcycle licence and not just a car/scooter one. I wish I was bigger. I wish the woman I love didn’t live thousands of miles away and wasn’t married with kids. I wish I had sex more often. I wish my Macbook Air hadn’t died last week. I wish I could afford to fix the cunt (535 Euros for a new motherboard). I wish for many, many things that I don’t have

Meeting that smiling 70 year old guy today made me realize that I have enough.

And I’m happy for that.