He said in the area he visited, a good many of the people were really happy with their standard of living -- but then added that their standard of living (that they are ecstatic about) is much much below ours (which some of us are pretty blase about). Sure, we have it tough. Many of us are still doing everything we can in tough economic times, just to stay in our home -- but our home is a 2800 sq. ft. house with a swimming pool and 3 car garage. We've had to cut back and turn in our leased Lexus but we're still driving a new Impala. Not exactly roughing it in the grand world scheme of things.
He continued to talk about his trip, the food, his hotel. All of it made me think how much I take for granted in a day. I turn on my tap and clean water comes out. I might not like how it tastes -- or that it leaves a rust ring on my tub -- but I won't die from drinking it.
And what about the food I eat? How much gratitude do I experience each day when I open up the fridge and look inside? Sure, there are times when I am so hungry that I am truly real-time grateful for what I am eating -- but compared to the amount of eating I do -- what is that percentage of time???
And what if that is how I arranged my world? What if I worked on only eating what I was grateful for? How many doughnuts, Twix at 3 in the afternoon, sodas as big as my head, and that one last slice of pizza would I leave uneaten, if I stopped eating when I could no longer summon gratitude for the bite I was about to put in my mouth?
Much like most of us could live in a smaller house than we do and be just fine -- much like most of us could drive a less-nice car than we do and be just fine -- most of us could eat a great deal less food (putting us more in line with the volume much of the world eats) and be just fine .... if we wanted to and if we tried.
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