Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again, and I've been thinking how fortunate I am.

When I was a junior in high school, I heard a freshman complaining that his cell phone was not connecting to his computer. I told him I was having the same problem, and asked if he knew what I could do. He asked to see my phone, and when he saw that it was the one that came free with my wireless plan, he realized that I was making fun of him. And stopped paying attention to me.

A few weeks later, I went on a trip to Mexico to build a house. My group was lucky, and one of the parents who came with us was a contractor, so he took charge and helped us get the job done right. He was also very enthusiastic, and loved to go above beyond the original plan. Naturally that required the rest of us to work more, but we were usually okay with that. When the house was almost finished, he told the family living in it that we had enough wood and sheet rock to put an extra wall in the bedroom, so the kids could have a separate room from their parents, the kids were ecstatic. When he saw how much they liked the idea, he offered them another wall so they could each have their own room. This, on top of the fact that each member of the family had an electrical outlet was a miracle for them.

The whole experience really gave me some perspective. I made fun of the kid at school for complaining that his high tech cell phone didn't work well enough, but I know that I complain about trivial matters all the time. (See all previous posts). No matter how good my life gets, I will probably never stop complaining, but I do realize how fortunate I am for all that I have, and I am very grateful.