As we prepare to slow down a bit over Christmas - unless you are employed by an organization that is going flat out - it's time to reflect on what's good in our world. Yes, we have challenges and always will, but how are we doing?
Benchmarks might be Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, recent pictures of Ebola victims, pictures of parents of kidnapped girls in Africa, or even displaced families in UN tents on the Turkey-Syria border. Yes, there are literally millions of displaced and worried people all over the earth and the appeals for food are barely keeping up with the need.
We are much better off - for sure.
Looking at our lifestyles and our health, we can and should conclude that our universal health care in Canada (despite its shortcomings) is doing a decent job of keeping us healthy. For most, employment, if relevant, is in hand and is providing cash for our needs and then some.
Perhaps the single reason we don't feel fulfilled is that our needs always seem to be increasing. I'm old enough to relate that the house I grew up in had only one bathroom - for our whole family. Can the average home occupant in South Delta imagine that?
Our house had central heat, which made us privileged, whereas some of my buddies had coal furnaces that had to be stoked manually. Find me that situation today in our urban landscape and you have found an out-of-date home.
Many are about to exchange gifts to celebrate the season of Christmas. Do you find this a challenge where each year you try to do "one better" than last year? Our average gifting tradition is now costing about $800 per adult. That's a big increase in the past decade.
In our house, the abundance that surrounds us has caused us to look at the various choices of gifting someone somewhere in the developing world, mainly on the basis that our gift will be more valuable there than here. A couple of chickens, a mosquito net, a literary kit or a contribution to clean water does have value, even if you cannot see it.
So, once we stop grumbling about something that did not go well, or feeling miserable because we didn't get a raise, let's take the time to reflect on, to appreciate all that we have and not what we seem to be missing.
It's time to think about tomorrow, about our priorities, and what is really important. It's time to give thanks for what we have, not what we want.
Season's Greetings and best wishes for 2015!
