The tragedy unfolding in Haiti forced to me to reflect upon just how friggin’ lucky I am to have been born who I am. To parents who cared. In a town with running water. Under the roof of a house made by craftsmen. Seriously, I could have just as easily been born in Haiti or some other third world country where every day is a struggle just to survive. It’s very difficult to remember this, or even reconcile it, as I sit here in my $1400 a month apartment, typing on my $1500 laptop computer, or driving down the street in my $20,000 car. That is, until something like the earthquake hits in Haiti and I am reminded of how so many people live their lives.
I am damn lucky.
We so often get caught up in the day to day minutiae that we forget this fact. If you are reading this website, you are a privileged human being. You are lucky you can worry about stupid crap so often instead of worrying about where you are going to sleep for the night or where your next meal is going to come from. Sad to say, sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us of just how good we have it. And that’s the purpose of this post – to remind you that you have it pretty good and the people of Haiti need your help. It’s your turn to step up.
On Wednesday, I donated the revenue from all my sites to the Red Cross. It was a good amount, but it’s never enough. So please, I know you can spare a few bucks to donate to a worthwhile charity. $5 to you is a latte at Starbucks, but to the people of Haiti it means a lot more.
Do your part as a lucky human – help out your fellow man who has it way worse than you do.
Donate To The Red Cross
Donate to Doctors Without Borders
This is a great reminder. It’s too bad it takes events like the tragedy in Haiti to make us remember how lucky we are and put things into perspective. Yesterday, I was complaining about not being able to get an appointment for a haircut. Today, I donated the money I would have spent to Doctors Without Borders.
Very true … it’s the luck of the draw really – we could have been born anywhere.
I try not to complain about my problems. When I start feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, I step back and tell myself what’s good – and overall, I have so much – more than what I need.
Thanks for the reminder, David. I thought I was having a bad day when my garage burned down today. I had to come home from work and handle all the insurance stuff and help my wife take care of the triplets because she was a bit frazzled by it all.
We had the TV on much of the day as people were coming in and out and one of the news channels had footage of this 11 year old girl who was trapped except for an arm, torso and face and they were discussing whether they would have to amputate her leg to free her.
Kinda puts my little problem into perspective.
– Charley
So very sorry to hear about your garage, Charley. That’s horrible, and I hope you can get it fixed soon. More importantly, glad no one was hurt. 🙂