Green Pastures

"I cried when I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet"

This is a famous quote from the former Persia. It basically talks about relative deprivation - the notion that you are worse off than others, in the sense that it dawned on the author that there are people who are worse off than he. In fact, the grass at that moment seemed much greener on his side than the other side.

Humans are insatiable by nature and we will forever be comparing ourselves with others. It's quite ironic really, as the more we have, the more we want. It's quite a selfish tendency as elsewhere in the world, there are millions that can't even quench their needs, while we are trying to fulfil all our wants. Chuck them that huge plate of pasta you ordered out of sheer mental hunger/greed and they'll feel like a king. For us, we take it for granted such that when given that same plate, we would request for something else.

I didn't have to look to far to realize how lucky I am. I mean I really thank God for all that I have. I've a great family, I'm healthy, I'm in university, I'm not burdened by real financial problems, I can spend almost freely, I have lots of friends, I am decent in most sports, I've visited more places in the world than most people my age, I've plenty of experiences as an expatriate, and so on. There is really so much that I can be thankful for. So if ever I were to refer to the common negative phrase of 'life sucks', remind me again how lucky I am.