I was talking with a good friend recently. Someone that, in my mind, gets it. We were talking about how the world needs more optimism and there was something that we were unable to figure out.
Why is everyone so angry?
Why did that elderly woman violently flip me off when I accidentally pulled out in front of her the other day (yes, that actually happened)? Why, when we're stuck in a traffic jam, do we get so close to the car in front of us just to be sure that no one squeezes their way in? Why do we attempt to dismember our cell phone when it drops a call from across the country?
I'm not sure I understand it, but here's my opinion. We've lost our perspective.
If you're reading this in the United States of America (as well as many other countries across the world), you have clean, running water at your fingertips. Some people walk for hours for clean water ("The average woman in Africa walks three miles every day for water.").
Many of you are probably reading this on a "phone" that allows you to access information about any topic you can imagine from across the Earth in seconds.
Healthcare, albeit expensive, is amazing. And, let's not forget, we don't have to pay for healthcare. We can choose not to go to the doctor. It's a privelege... that millions of people don't have ("Unknown numbers of people are dying every day in Haiti due to a lack of medicines and assistance.").
We complain about the preparation of our food in a climate-controlled restaurant, when millions of children are starving to death. Can you even fathom watching your child starve to death and having no answer for them? (StopTheHunger)
I'm not telling you all of this to make you feel bad. I'm telling you in hopes that we all realize how fortunate we are to have our cable TV, cell phones, air conditioning, cars and basic necessities that I take for granted daily (like food, water, clothes and a house).
Remember, not one of us chose to be born where we were. The only reason that I was born in the USA and not a 3rd world country is because God decided for me.
I'm sure we can all work on keeping our world in perspective. I know I can... and that little old lady probably could, too.