I will have to say that out of the three sections in “Eat, Pray, Love,” Bali was my least favorite. I didn't want Liz to have a romantic interest. She was on a search for herself and in the meantime she meets this guy? She's got two guys back home who are simply driving her nuts. Why does she need another to one to take up room on her plate of regrets? The whole time in India she kept trying to get over David. I mean seriously Elizabeth! Stay away from these guys. Like my Dad would always say, "Allison. Stay away from boys. They're nothing but trouble." Take a little fatherly advice and just back off. In the one section she talks about how she pours herself into any relationship she's ever in, and this one is no different. I just needed to vent that for a minute. Back to Bali and what I did like.
I think Americans needs to take on a little more of a Balinese attitude. One of my favorite quotes in this chapter was from Ketut, the medicine man who months earlier told Elizabeth she would be coming back to Bali. He tells her to "Smile in your liver". Smile in your liver. How cool is that? I feel like sometimes as Americans all we do is complain. We go to a restaurant and complain about our food being wrong, or how the temperature in the office is too cold. I feel like complaining is one of America's favorite past times. If people had more of a Ketutan like attitude where life is a precious gift and we need to smile even when things aren't going the best, we would all be so much better off and wouldn't need to be doped up on anti-depressants. In Bali they have celebrations for everything. I think people just need to celebrate life a little more and live it to the fullest. That has been my goal for the year and I want to stick to it. Happiness and contentment have to be learned and I feel like this book shows that the Balinese have really learned it well. I need to strive to be more like them. Gilbert says on page two hundred and
sixty, "Even in my own life, I can see exactly where my episodes of unhappiness have brought suffering or distress or (at the very least) inconvenience to those around me. The search for contentment is therefore, not merely a self-preserving and self-benefitting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people." Sounds like a path to success right there. Just another good little mantra to live by. Find happiness and contentment in the little things. The more that we count our blessings the better we’ll feel. It’s just that simple. Word of advice . . . keep happy and always remember to stay finer.
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