After traveling in Viet Nam for the past few weeks, I cannot say that I know Vietnamese people from atom nor do I believe that I have them figured out. I believe in individuality – that everybody is unique and has his own personality. However, I also believe in macrostructures and how they can shape a group of person.
In my (limited) experience, through my observations and what I was told by the people here, I think that Vietnamese people, born and raised in Vietnam, accept things. They accept things as they are and I see this as a strength.
This is in a way, the second part of my earlier post: I Feel Bad. If their job is to move out of home at 16 to work on a boat 5 hours away and live on the boat 50 to 52 weeks a year – well they do it and they do not seem one bit bitter about it.
The strength I see in this is that this acceptance allows them to enjoy life as it comes to them rather than spending negative energy in bitching and moaning about their misfortune. I have met some people who have, in my opinion, very shitty jobs. Not shitty in the sense that I find them pathetic that they have such jobs. Rather, shitty in the sense that I could never do the same job as them day in and day out.
I could not work in a hotel and sleep on the floor of the lobby.
I could not work as a butler in somebody’s house and wait on them all day, see them live a luxurious life while I sleep in the kitchen at night.
I could not serve food that in order for me to eat the same thing I will have to sacrifice full weeks worth of pay.
The people I have met accept that reality and they do not seem to be more miserable because of it.
Do they wish that they could have it different? I would bet my life that they do, but the reason why I believe their attitude is such a strength is because they do not dwell on it.
I said it and I will repeat it again: I do not claim that I know them from atom, that I can read their thoughts and emotions with a 100% accuracy nor that all Vietnamese are the same.
But that is my experience here.
Truth is, some people can say that it is a flaw because it is a lack of ambition. Others will say that it is because of the political control over the country that shapes such a mentality. I am not here to debate whether this attitude is intrisic or not and I will answer that ambition is great but it is also a double edge sword.
I consider myself to be a very ambitious person but never being happy about your situation is just a recipe for being miserable perpetually. I believe in self improvement, I believe in ambition and I believe in “bettering my life”. However, my experience in Viet Nam, with the Vietnamese people, taught me acceptance and realize its positive aspects.
Kevin Durant, an NBA Basketball player, once said on Twitter that being humble is the most important thing to him because everything can be taken away from him at anytime. That really spoke to me.
This experience in Vietnam made me feel like a spoiled brat next to these Vietnamese people and how I have encountered so many other spoiled brats in my life. We are not spoiled brats because we have it “better”, because we have more money. We are spoiled brats because we keep focusing on so many negative things. We are spoiled brats because of our outlook on life.
I think it is important to find the right balance between ambition and acceptance. We must always strive to have a better life but we must appreciate what we already have. I feel that I have so often focused on the former that I tend to forget the latter and I think that humility is going to help me get there.
What about you? What do you think?
