For Granted

We as middle class Americans take for granted many things. The fact that we are allowed to express our selves is one that we cannot imagine living without. We see ads for those charities that help children in developing countries and because we cannot relate, we change the channel. Sure, it's sad but we think, "What can we honestly do?" We think about how much trouble the world is in and the fact that in order to rectify the problems, it has to be a united front not just one or two here and there for a small period of time.

We take almost everything and everyone in our lives for granted. It is what we do. Our friends come and go, and in so become disposable like trash bags. Our family will always be our family so we treat them as to how we see fit or how we were raised without second-guessing if it is truly the right thing to do. You can walk from one end of your house to the other and not imagine what it would be like if we didn’t own certain modern convinces. Such as trashcans and trash pickup, toilets, sinks and indoor plumbing. A kitchen with several appliances to cook and prepare food. We turn on the stove and it works, when it does not we replace it or write a check to pay the gas or electric bill. The fact that we have a place to live is a concept that we are asked to reflect upon but no one truly dose and if we do it is only for a fleeting moment.

So many things I can mention, clothing, entertainment devices, the computer you use to read this blog and all the connections that make it work, are all things that we don’t bother imagining life without.

But why is it so easy to take the things in our life for granted. Why is it that we can almost look at those without as if they made a choice to live such a way? It has gotten so bad that many people push the limits and destroy what they have so that they have an excuse to get more. People typical will push others away in order to get new friends, or a new lover. Tear down buildings so they can build bigger and better ones. Some even persistently sell and trade their cars in to have the newest and greatest.

It all has to start and end some place. We live in a world of certainty. We may not know the day, hour, month or even year but we know that all that has a beginning has an end, what goes up must come down, and where there is light, there will be shadow.

Certainty tends to be translated differently in the brain of us humans. Because we see the sunrise and set in the same fashion for several years, we simply assume that it will do the same for the rest of our lives. We know one day we will die but live life like it is infinite, assured that because I woke up this morning when I go to sleep tonight the same will happen. It is not until tragedy strikes and shakes our core that we stop to truly reflect.

Pearl Harbor, September 11th, a best friend dies; we are in a car accident, our house burns down, earthquake, tornado, drought, or the loss of employment. We imagine with modern convinces such as unemployment and insurance we will be ok through most of these. Then the lawyers come and say only half was covered or acts of god don’t count, we see that nothing brings back our best friend from the dead, we almost died in that car, the people that went to work that day and had plans for after work never got to do them, dry cleaning never got picked up, and many people never got to see their loved ones again. Do we deserve the tragedies that come upon us and remind us of what we take for granted? Do we have a right to be angry with god or some higher being that we have to suffer a loss?

No, we don’t deserve tragedy, and no, we should not be angry at a higher being or fate. From the moment that we can comprehend, we learn that almost anything can take away almost anything. Your favorite toy was broken or stolen by another kid at day care or on the playground and we learned that the things we love need protecting. If you value your life, protect and cherish it. Don’t waste it and don’t make the lives of others worse for your own gain. When tragedy strikes, it's to remind of how infinity exists only in the heavens. The earth moves and changes just like all that inhabit it. The tide comes and goes, the moon has many different phases, and while it may all look like each day is the same as the last it is not.

Just like people, each day only graces the earth once. We can make it a good day or a bad day. The first of many days that help to improve the lives of other or the first of many days to kill life early. With every action there is a reaction and the only things we can control is how we act react. When you sit and reflect on life without many of the things you fail to appreciate daily you will see just how easy it is to take everything for granted. You will see how it can snow ball to the point that we are only pretending to care about other s because it is what we were taught to do.

The moment comes in our lives when we stop and start to value life, things and people not as we have been taught but as we are meant to do. Some will never have that moment while others will be so moved by the revelation they will strive not only to undo their own damage but as much damage as they can. Some will just do small things and others will simply adjust the way they live in ever a slight way but enough to make a difference. We will once have thought, "One person can't make a difference." But we will see the error and realize "That it was that one last straw which broke the camel's back."