Happiness vs Contentment

I posted this photo a few months back when I was in Sweden. This was taken at an air B&B that I was staying at in Stockholm, it was a sunny evening though there was a chill in the air and I was enjoying some strawberries while waiting for my friends to get ready for dinner. I captioned this, "Don't know if I'm ready to go back to my real life yet." A few days later, a friend told me this:

"I saw the picture you took the other day, the one at the window sill; and I felt so sad. I wanted to tell you that your real life can be anything you want it to be, it's not just some thing you have to 'go back' to." 

This happened perhaps 5 months ago or so, I've arrived home since and have gotten back into the sync of life over here. On exchange in Europe, life seems to be at a standstill. Sure, we go to school and do assignments, we travel and experience exciting, exotic places, but a veil of transience seems to blanket everything. Enjoying the peace and quiet in Sweden felt pretty magical, but it also felt unreal - "this is not real life." Back home here in Singapore, we're so used to the hustle bustle; everyday it's go go go go go. 

This begs the question, what is real life? To me, to you, to people all over the world? Often times Asians compare their lives to Westerners (using this statement very very loosely and generally) and we find ours wanting. It appears that a large majority of "our kind" work far harder and enjoy much less in comparison. This may not be true across all cultures but lets just say so, for argument sake. Yet despite this feeling of discontentment, so to speak, we pride ourselves on our hard work and tenacity; we say that the Westerners are "lazy". 

Is this true? Could it be that we are simply too ardent when it comes to work? The fact is that we could argue all day long and not come to a firm conclusion. We could blame this on culture, upbringing, history, geography, but it does not and will not change what it is. The true knot in my heart is a question - having hankered after the seemingly more quiet and relaxed pace of life (perhaps somewhat close to what I experienced living in Sweden or even Australia in my younger days), would I truly be happy living that way? Or is the grass only greener on the other side? Am I too used to this fast pace of life, would I feel unfulfilled and bored if my reality changed? 

Our lives are what we make of them, but then again, how much is conditioned? How much of a choice do we have?