Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Sometimes losing means winning.

"Imagine all those people coming home."

A while back I wrote an article about the Hellines who live abroad. Today' s post is a little about me, about them, about you.

With the current economic situation ruling our lives, I took a step back from the news, and the aftermath of the world's worst nightmare, and decided to think. Again, I am a dreamer, so I will ask you to dream with me - imagine once more. This time, my imagination took me to a different world, maybe a world far from yours, called "My home, my choice". In my experience, the choices that we make, are the ones we have to live with. Now, I have made a decision to change this. the choices that we make are just choices. Nothing in the world can stop us from making different ones. What will happen if we do? Will the world suddenly come to an end. Will we all suffer in despair for changing things. No. Choices are choices, and once they are made they can't be unmade. But they can certainly be changed.

Many Greeks have made their homes elsewhere. Financial security, better living standards, more opportunities are a few of the reasons decisions were made. In my previous post I discussed the possibility of returning to a homeland, which seems unimaginable, but today, with the unbalanced global view, it may not be impossible.

My heading "Sometimes losing means winning" is also the motto of this post. Think about it. What would you lose if you gave up a life elsewhere to return to what most people call "patrida" - home. Let me tell you what I "lost" when I came here. Firstly, I lost my nationality. I was born in the UK. Secondly, I lost my prospects, I had been headhunted for a position in a multinational company. Thirdly, I lost my worth. The list is actually endless, and can go on for pages, but that's not what I want to dwell on. Losing can mean winning. The amount of things I have lost in my life will probably remain lost. When I lost these, though, there was always something to be won. Today, I looked at myself in the mirror, and realised that life is not about losing. It's not even about being afraid to lose. It's about winning. We only get one chance at this, so we should start getting good at it. I'm not talking materially, I'm talking fulfillment. Winning means looking at life in the way we are supposed to look at life. I came here with dreams and I am not going to give them up. Looking around me, the blue skies, the green mountains, the fertile land, the deep blue seas were once something worth fighting for. People have lived and died for this piece of the world. We have been respected for preserving our heritage and our history, so why do we not respect ourselves for it.

Greeks are winners. They are proud, and they are winners. All of you out there, living all around the world, remember who you are. This country does not have the leaders it should have. They are not responsible enough, and don't care enough to do any of us any good. They have also lost something - they have lost their way. Maybe we all have. There are so many traps out there, who wouldn't. It's time to find our way back, though. You may all have something that is needed here. You may have everything that is needed. Doctors who love saving lives. Teachers who love teaching. Builders who love building. Leaders who love their country enough to lead. Life is not about losing. It is about loving and respecting who you are, where you are and why you are there. This is what this and any country needs.

We need to protect what makes us different, and that is our heritage. Cultivating our crops in a healthy manner. Giving back what we have been given - a country which we should be proud of, not robbing it of everything it has.

What we lose - maybe a bigger wage, a better house, the best TV, the fastest car. What we win - life. Maybe it's not just a dream.