I Hear Thunder

As I write this, I’m seated in an office chair at a sturdy desk, inside a well-designed building with plumbing and electricity, the Dow is up 100 points, the sun is shining, and the sky is blue without clouds to be seen for miles.

Many people don’t really care for what’s happening on the financial markets, and I get that.  In fact, some people may even be offended at the mere reference to ‘the market’, perhaps preferring to focus on the ‘Occupy Movement’ instead.  I get that too, or at least I think I do understand it, to some degree anyway.  Or, maybe I don’t?

However, everyone likes the reference above to sunshine and blue skies, right? Or do they?  What about farmers praying to the god they prefer, for rain?  They don’t appreciate blue skies today, do they? 

Well, even if farmers may prefer rain to blue skies, they’d be happy with the sun shining?  Or not?  Maybe they only want the sun to shine when it matters, when it’s best suited to energizing their planted crops? Is that being selfish?

You see, the thing is, almost everything can be viewed as positives opposing negatives… or should even this be stated ‘the other way around’? 

Today, if you won a business deal, that means someone else may have lost an opportunity to do that deal.  Meaning… they had been unsuccessful in their attempt at generating an income via that deal, which may have precluded them from buying food, which might have caused them to lose their job, go hungry, and die of starvation!

People should not be deprived of happiness.  Our single little chance at a life on earth is too precious to waste on dwelling on negatives.  This, made even worse when you start searching for the latter!

The earth’s surface is more than 70% water.  Of the remaining surface area, less than half is habitable due to mountains, deserts, ice caps and other generally undesirable factors interfering with human comforts.  And these stats don’t even account for areas without Wi-Fi, the modern foundation of Maslow’s Theory!

But, not everyone can possibly be as happy, content and comfortable as you are right now.  Even if you’re reading this on the subway, you’re able to bask in the delight of having access to a working subway.  No big deal you say?  Yeah… think again!

Now, take this message and allow it to lift your spirits for a while.  For every single word you’ve read to this point (418) there are at least 1,000,000 people worse off than what you are right now.

A half billion people aren’t that many people.  That’s right, because 6x that number of people occupy India and China alone; 37% of the entire world’s population.  And, right again… none of them really cared that the Dow was up 100 points today, or that the sun is shining, especially where I happen to be located right now.

That - my very valued blog reader - is how incredibly fortunate we are… you and I, today, in this single, precious moment in our lives.  Right now. 

Live large!