Grateful.

At the risk of sounding cliche, I am exceedingly grateful for this country. As the holiday weekend came to a close, I found myself more and more contemplative. I cannot even imagine the life I would be forced to live had I been born in Sudan, Taiwan, Budapest, Cuba, Iran, Palestine...the list goes on. What did I do to deserve such great abudance and why do I still find a myriad of things to chronically complain about? It truly is a shame that I have been given so much and yet appreciate so little. I got to spend the weekend celebrating our country's independence with my family, in the comfort of an air-conditioned home, eating enough food for a small country, watching an entirely superfluous fireworks show that probably cost more than the net worth of all the developing countries...I am spoiled. I am so spoiled and I'm just now beginning to realize the breadth and depth of my spoiled state. Sure, by Plano terms, I am anything but spoiled...but throw Plano terms out the window! This concentrated community of hyper-wealthy, over-priviledged, under-stimulated blue-bloods is anything but reflective of the life led by the majority of humans on this planet.

It all comes back to perspective. Sure, my little Honda Civic (who happens to bear the name
Andi) might not be anything compared to my neighbor's Porsche, but I have a car! So many people in this world cannot say that. I may not have True Religion jeans or Christian Louboutin heels, but I have so much clothing that I actually have to make a decision as to what to wear in the morning. My God - how many girls around the world would kill for such a predicament! How quickly most of us lose perspective when we are driving in our cars and miss a light, or we hear the alarm go off in the morning and immediately loathe the idea of going to work, or see our friend's new big-screen TV and immediately feel inferior...or worse...begin to resent them for it.

For all two of my readers, I encourage you to not only attempt to find this perspective, but to constantly remind yourself of it. I am so grateful that I live in this country, and I don't ever want to take it for granted. It is truly a blessing that not one of us deserves because we did nothing to earn it.