I seriously believe that Australia, and other first world countries, are so lucky when it comes to the way we live and the resources we have. Compared to so many other societies, we're so privileged and sometimes we can take it for granted. It's so easy to. I've grown up always having a roof over my head and food on the table, with clothes in my closet and shoes on my feet. It's so easy to get carried away with the things that we don't have, rather than focusing on the things that we do. I'm not going to lie, I know I do sometimes. You can get carried away so quickly, especially if everyone's raving about the new iPhone or the newest Nike Free Runs or freaking out that they got tickets to the Panic! At the Disco concert. It's so easy to look at what you have and think 'but I still don't have this'.
Until a few years ago, when I took a trip to the Philippines, I don't think I really realised how fortunate I actually was. I'd always known that poverty existed and that it was real. I'd always known that there were people starving and being deprived of basic human needs, but I don't think it really hit me until I was there. Until I was standing in the middle of the slums handing food out to people and seeing their faces light up. Until I was playing with the children who aren't as fortunate as I am and seeing them learn how to read and write. That's when it really hit me, when I saw how happy they were with the basics. They didn't need iPods or laptops or savvy high-tech gadgets. They were happy with the simplest things and it made me realise that I should be too.
I must admit though, I still get upset when I don't get tickets to a concert or don't have something that I really really want. I think everyone would, it's only human. I just think that we shouldn't take for granted what we have and dwell on what we don't. If those kids were perfectly happy with the simplest of things why can't we be too? Why do we feel like we need everything we don't have?
No comments:
Post a Comment