Gratitude
We, the citizens of developed countries, believe that we have miserable lives. We embrace minor problems as huge problems. Everyone knows the (ironic) expression: First world problems. I feel like we struggle for life in the traffic, we the queue to the McDonalds, for a place in the parking lot, for the “expensive” clothes in Primark, etc.
If you leave your mind for a second a watch your life from above, immediately you see that we only struggle with minor problems in our daily lives because we are living too well. I am not defending that we should have famine to understand real problems, but I argue that if we have some empathy for the one that has real (life-threatening) problems, we will appreciate more our lives.
So time ago, I was listening to a Portuguese podcast, the interviewed (I cannot recall who he was) was saying that he is lucky. He was born in Portugal, a country with no war*, not terrorism, free democracy, no natural catastrophes**, etc.). More precisely, he was born in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, the city where there is everything, culture, hospitals, central institutions, great weather, where the best job/economic conditions exist.
My advice for you is, the next time you feel that you are struggling for life on your “problems,” that everything feels bad, that everyone is against you, and even the world is against you, just take a step back, close your eyes and think. Imagine that you were teleported from there to Syria, were bombing explode everywhere, or to some underdeveloped country in Africa and you are looking for drinkable water for hours, to North Korea where you live under a dome. Then… get to your “body” and enjoy the fantastic hot day in the traffic jam without AC.
(*) We had a war in the African ex-colonies back in the 60–70’s, it was a stupid war like Vietnam.
(**) We had the great earthquake that destroyed Lisbon back in 1755, and in the last year we had the whole country on fire. More than one hundred people died, and although we always have fires during the summer typically there are no deaths.
Jun 7| 365 Days of Writing Prompts | Four stars: Write a review of your life — or the life of someone close to you — as if it were a movie or a book.
