Warren Buffett likes to say that we all have the same opportunities in life, as long as you weren’t born in a country like Somalia or elsewhere in the Horn of Africa. He says that if you were born in the United States, you have the same opportunities as other Americans; and the same applies to most countries where we don’t have to fight for our lives every day in the literal sense.
But we complain about all sorts of circumstances and forget that we are actually very fortunate to have whatever little or much we have. Regardless of what we own and of our current situation, we are truly fortunate in the eyes of millions of people. So here are 11 things you should be grateful for, which are everything you need for a good starting point in your life, in your goals and in your happiness.
1. You’re alive.
Appreciating the simple fact of being alive is something you should never forget, because not everyone can say this. Many people, some relatives, some acquaintances and even strangers, can no longer appreciate life; some left this world because of an accident or war, others because of illness… Life is the best gift you have, and it’s a shame that we endure it instead of living it. Every day is a gift, and it’s the greatest gift you should be grateful for.
2. You won’t go to bed without dinner tonight.
I think everyone reading this article will not go to bed without dinner, whether or not they can afford certain luxuries or struggle to meet their payments at the end of the month. In some countries, many parents go to bed without dinner because they would rather give the little food they have to their children. In some cases the situation is even more extreme, and neither parents nor children can say they eat every day.
3. You have access to drinking water.
We have taken it for granted that drinking water is a right. But the reality is that water is a luxury that millions of people today cannot afford. In some countries, the luckiest only have to walk a few kilometres to carry back jars of water that isn’t even entirely safe to drink, but for them it’s all there is.
4. You don’t fear for your life.
In a developed country, the probability that you will wake up alive tomorrow is 99.9999%, and the probability that our children will become parents is very high. Not everyone on this planet is so lucky. There are countries where the probability of a newborn reaching the age of 5 is only 20%, while a person’s life expectancy is about 14 years. Not everyone who goes to sleep will see their family again the next morning; any night could be the last.
5. You know someone who loves you.
Parents, children, siblings, cousins, friends… if you look around you, it must be really hard not to find someone who cares about you. And that in itself is already a reason to be grateful.
6. You have clothes and shoes to wear.
Better or worse, for you being dressed and wearing shoes is the most ordinary thing in the world, while in other places clothes are a luxury people cannot afford.
7. You have access to healthcare.
Even today, many countries still lack the means to treat a simple flu, and a person can die from something as common as a tooth infection or appendicitis. Health services, of better or worse quality, are something we have and that many other people cannot afford.
See also: Business ideas with a philanthropic cause
8. You have access to the internet.
The internet is a luxury that is still missing in many countries, whose inhabitants cannot access all the information you can. They cannot acquire new knowledge, and so their opportunities in life are limited. Be grateful for having an internet connection and make good use of it, because many people wish they had this opportunity that you are being given and that you sometimes don’t use productively.
9. You can read.
Although we take it for granted that everyone can read, the truth is that a significant part of the population cannot; especially if you are a woman, since in many countries you are denied that right, because reading is considered men’s business, and for the life of servitude planned for a girl, reading would only make her more educated, which is seen as counterproductive. Likewise, we send NGOs to teach children to read and educate them, but those lucky enough not to die from disease or conflict will rarely be able to get hold of the books you can access with a single click.
10. You’re free.
Freedom is a precious good that not everyone has the chance to be born with. You are free to travel, to love, to make your own decisions, and to think and act.
11. And the most important: the freedom to change.
If you don’t like your life, you can change it. If you don’t like where you live, you can move somewhere else. Being born in certain countries means being born with a death sentence, where the only goal in life is to survive one more day.
Some lose their lives crossing the sea in small, overcrowded boats at the risk of dying, hoping to change their situation; others climb the fences that we in developed countries put up to stop them getting through, so that they die in their own country.
You are fortunate, because the country you live in pays people to put up those borders and stop these other human beings, who want a small piece of your privileges, from getting in. The simple fact of not needing to jump the fence is already a reason to be grateful. The simple fact of not setting out on a life-or-death journey with your whole family on board is already a privilege.
We really are very fortunate, because we have everything we need to move forward and prosper in life. Unfortunately, we sometimes waste part of our time complaining with the famous “if I had…, I would…”, when millions of people would literally kill to have some of our comforts.
Further reading
Featured image: Acad Ronin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
