I find it astonishing that so many people complain about the most insignificant problems when people in some countries don’t even have the basic necessities.
I get infuriated every time I hear someone complain about how their cell phone has no signal or that the price of gas went up by 20 cents. It truly amazes me how some people get so angry when their food isn’t absolutely perfect at a restaurant or when their video game system stops working.
People don’t think about how much they have and how easy our lives have become. I really want someone to live in Nigeria for a week, come back to the U.S., and then complain about how slow the internet is in his apartment.
From the basic necessities like food, water and shelter to luxuries such as TVs, computers and cell phones, Americans often don’t realize how blessed we truly are. There are dozens of nations in the world with uncontrollable poverty rates, wide-spread diseases, and tyrannical rulers who murder their own people at will.
Imagine going camping in the woods and it rains all weekend. Now imagine that your tent is flooded and you have to live in it for the next year of your life. Welcome to the lives of the more than one million Haitians who have been left homeless after an earthquake in January. To make matters worse, a wave of hurricanes has brought massive flooding to the nation and now their makeshift dwellings are under water.
Don’t make the mistake of believing poverty exists in only other countries. More than 14 percent of Americans live below the poverty line and that number has increased each year since 2006. The severity of the poverty is significantly less in the U.S. than other nations because we have running water and government programs in place to support many of those in need.
No matter how you spend your Thanksgiving break, take five minutes out of your busy relaxation time and be thankful for everything you have. We all have something to be thankful for no matter how bad our lives may seem at times. n