On Appreciation

A thought has been squirming around in my mind for a day or two now on appreciating things. The weather had turned here as of late, and it was as cold as 7°C in August. Quick to a joke are people who ask “where is global warming now”. Many people complained of course that it should not be this cold for an August. We should be basking in the glory of the sun and praising it with our adoration. But it is not to be this week, as a cold front floods the city of Prague where I live and people bundle up to the extent that they are wearing winter jackets.

But I enjoyed the cold air and winds. It was a relief to me. Perhaps it is my Canadian blood, but I was not lamenting the absence of heat. So, this got me thinking how much I appreciate winter and the cold, for it makes me cherish the warmth more when it is there. The seasons come and go but how often are we conscious of their effect? So, to appreciate the warmth of summer to the fullest, we must endure the cold. When we are used to a certain thing we can very quickly become accustomed to taking it for granted. The seasons are perfect for making sure that we appreciate aspects of each aspects of the weather.

Now, granted, these are things that are thrust upon us by circumstance due to the tilt of the Earth axis towards the sun and the fact that it revolves in a 24-hour cycle, that we have determined to be that long by the creation of time, and within 365 days once around the sun.

But there are also other things, besides the weather, that we take for granted. Loved ones for example. Think of family, and their omnipresence that they may have within the earlier years of your life, until you leave the fold of the family household. You have been around them for such a long time, you need air to breathe and you appreciate that newfound freedom to the fullest. Then, as you are gone, you will come home and appreciate your family even more so. No one will be there to fill that fridge, clean those clothes or make sure everything is tidy and in order.

If your partner hovers over, and around you, all the time, naturally you will desire freedom from time to time. It is good to have your own personal space, your own friends besides the unified circle of friends. Comfort can be good, but to go out of that comfort is better for growth. I am not saying that you should go out of your way to avoid your partner now, but a little bit of distance can refresh things.

But I now come to an article I have read here on Medium by Angus Hervey:

He emphasises that this generation is living within the most peaceful time in history. If you consider all the wars that have been fought according to Wikipedia (I did a rudimentary count of all the wars), and that is almost 2,000 wars (1,994 to be exact) since the recording of wars began, it is well within our nature to fight wars. That’s pretty much a war at least every 2nd generation. Our forefathers fought in what was hopefully the last world war, involving countries all over the world and killing millions of people. There are still 11 countries in ongoing conflicts and the death toll is well within the tens of thousands. But as Angus as indicated, we are truly in one of the most peaceful times in history.

While it is good to be able to celebrate such good fortune, we must be aware of the sacrifices that were made in the past by our ancestors and be well aware of the cost of war. We see it in the media as Syria burns and refugees flock to safety in any other country than the one they are from. Must we be ignorant and foolish enough to want to walk into another war? Contrary to the weather, or temporary absence of a loved one, I am very strongly against our generation being thrust into wars solely because we have failed to appreciate our peaceful times.

We must be made aware of our fortunate circumstance and keep within consciousness that our time, right now, is one of the greatest times. It could be greater, always, but it is a peaceful and good time and we should not let our differences swing pendulum-like into a frenzy of hate, ignorance and fear.

Keep an open mind and make sure you take multiple media sources into account when reading the news. Do not rely on one source alone.

Most of all, assure yourself that you take every piece of news with a grain of salt and not as gospel. The people who are making the news are people, humans, like you and me. They may make mistakes. They may be biased.

Be aware where they have acquired their sources. Perhaps, which is often the case, the mainstream media will acquire the news from a collective source like Reuters and start spinning stories around the fresh news.

But most of all, be aware that war is not a distant thing of the past. War has gone hand-in-hand with humans since the dawn of humanity. Inter-tribal wars over banalities, up to global conflicts over still other banalities. As we walk in life, we are also escorted by death. It can come, and to appreciate life we too must realise that death is a part of life. And as such we cannot turn a blind eye to the reality of the world, and to war and live in peaceful ignorance. Be aware, make yourself aware of the facts, and make others aware.

We are one race, the human race, and we have to band together and we should begin thinking like one race, one planet. Appreciate each other.