Expatriation, Problems and Destiny (Musings)

There is a theory that says that wherever you go, there you are, and that problems follow you. That you can’t get away from your bad destiny. If you have a problem that you are trying to escape from by expatriating, then you need to keep one thing in mind- we seem to have an invisible account in all of us and running away from problems does not change its sum total.

In other words, if you have bad luck in one area and try to go to a place where there are more opportunities not to have such a problem, then the bad luck will simply migrate into another area of your life. Don’t know if you believe it, but my observations prove it to be true. How so? Ok, I will give you a few hypothetical case studies:

Mr. Smith was unlucky in love and blamed lack of good women in America for his problems. He had emigrated to Brazil, and found a good woman there. However, shortly thereafter, he began having problems with his health. His bad luck migrated into another area of his life. His overall level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with his life thus remained the same.

Mr. Nguyen was a poor Vietnamese man who migrated to the US. He became rich through business, but was frustrated with other problems he encountered in the US such as racism, changed (for worse) behaviour of his children and lack of good friends. Again, his overall level of happiness and/or unhappiness stayed the same.

Mr. Jones was a lonely intellectual who felt unneeded in his small town in Texas. He left for Paris. There he had found a big intellectual crowd that he could associate with. However, his income suffered and he could not make enough money to live a comfortable life. His overall level of satisfaction with life, again, stayed the same.

If you are unhappy and go to some other place to become happier by getting rid of a problem, the euphoria will be short-lived as other problems will appear to balance out the sum total of your destiny and put you back on the same plateau of happiness/unhappiness as you were before you have moved. This happens because, generally, they say, your environment reflects your karma objectively and subjectively. Bad things will happen anyway and/ or you will also perceive many new things as bad which will again make you upset in one way or another. Novelty will wear off, the same people will appear and eventually your life will become its old self.

Conversely, a happy person will remain happy whenever he/she moves.

The above is only a theory, of course. It does not seem to happen in all cases and with all people. Some change their lives completely by moving to another place and become much happier. Some people’s lives change for the worse. There are many variables and causes at play, some are more hidden than others and they all seem to conglomerate. However, one thing that mystics around the world have been telling us about- that our environment is a direct reflection of our spiritual insides seems to hold true. So, if you are into spiritual improvement, keep it up when you go abroad. Keep doing good things for society, as well. This way, your happiness will not be based on the changes in the outside environment, but vice versa- your environment will always keep up with the ever-changing (for the better) you.