The Perfect Balance

Why do immigrants choose our nation as a safe haven? What is it about our country that makes it look so great in the eyes of outsiders?

Walter believes there is nothing. His life is filled with nothingness. He works as a college professor, owns two homes, and a grand piano, drinks wine, and listens to classical music. But he is not living a real life before he meets Tarek. He says so himself that he was “doing nothing” and simply "pretending to be busy". What is so outstanding then, about a nation that drives people to live an empty life? Freedom.

You do not get to choose freedom; nobody does. Fate decides how much freedom you get. Where you are born decides how much freedom you get. What race you are decides how much freedom you get. Who you are born to decides how much freedom you get. Freedom is decided even before you are born. Freedom is everything; it decides how a life is to be lived. And so, fate is everything. A factor no one can control, decides life.

Freedom is hard to come by. Fate is cruel. Freedom is fated.

Or so it seems. Walter lives in a country where he is free to do almost anything he wants. Tarek, on the other hand, must live a restricted life, both in his home country and in America where he is considered an illegal. Tarek lives a happier, freer life. He forgets the fear and dangers in his life. He lives a life filled with love and happiness. He lives “doing things” in a country where he does not even belong. What is so different about Walter and Tarek? Appreciation.

How many times in one day do we, free Americans, appreciate the rights that are handed to us on a silver platter? I know for a fact, I never stop to give thanks to the many material items I own, just because I was born in this country. I never thank God for letting me be born in a place that does not openly discriminate against race, sex, and religion. Why? Because I have never been without luxuries. I have never starved, been dying of thirst, worn old, unwashed clothes, only owned one pair of shoes, not had a place to sleep at night, not had a roof over my head, and therefore I have never felt the need to appreciate.

You never know what you have until it’s gone. But how can you appreciate something if you’ve never even had it to begin with? How do illegals appreciate America when it is not their country?

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

-Voltaire

Freedom is fated, but how one lives their life is up to the individual. Freedom is not a completely limiting force; it is difficult to control, but it is not an extreme that dictates exactly how lives are to be lived and how they will turn out. If we do not have it, it is simply an excuse, a set back, a factor to help people try harder, to find a perfect balance.