I remind myself of the things I should be grateful for every single day. I remind myself of the people I have in my life who love me, I remind myself of my cats for who I am their entire world. And I constantly, constantly remind myself of how lucky I am to live in Sweden.
Tonight I spent an hour reading about Sharia laws and women wrongly accused of crimes and stoned to death. My first thought was that I wanted to change the world so such things wouldn’t happen and my second thought was “thank god it’s not me. thank god I don’t live in a culture which condones such things”.
It’s easy to only compare yourself to people who are better off than you are but try doing the other way around. I can whine about not having enough money but I don’t ever let it bring me down for real. If I’m about to let that happen I just take a look around my apartment and when I see the beautiful things I’m surrounded by I instantly feel better. How can I not when I know that millions of people live in shacks while I own things to a value higher than the money those people will make in their entire life.
It’s not just about money. Like I started this entry with, it’s about the people in your life too. And the things you do. Everything you see. I do my best to take in all the beauty of the world rather than just passing it by on my way somewhere. I don’t just walk by the blooming trees in spring. I stop to smell the flowers. I admire the view from my balcony and photograph sunsets. I find the beauty in every day.
I’m not always happy. Of course I’m not. And I have a very bleak view of the world and mankind. Perhaps that’s why I so easily find joy in the small things. Because I know the world is full of suffering and evil but that I have been spared from it.
Like Bono sings in Do They Know It’s Christmas “Tonight thank god it’s them instead of you”. Some have called that line cynical but I call it realistic. Do thank god or whatever you believe in for the things you have. Stop and take it all in because you’re probably better off than most people are.