At the end of each day, when I lay my head on my pillow, regardless of what happened during the course of the day, I know I’ve had it pretty easy. I know I can wake up in the morning and I’ll still have that roof over my head, I’ll still be at my home, I’ll still have that food in the fridge, and I’ll still be alive.
I cannot complain because there are billions of people around the world who cannot get any food, cannot get clean water, don’t have shelter, don’t have any semblance of security because there are people shooting each other for seemingly no reason, taking their kids, killing their parents. They have problems; we have minor inconveniences. Yet they continue to fight, every single day, to stay alive. They maintain that hope, that belief, that if they keep fighting and striving, that maybe one day it will be better, it will be easier.
There are billions of people around this world who would do anything to be in my shoes, and your shoes, for just a day. Just one day. Just one chance. They would do anything to have the opportunities we have, to feel the security we feel, and to taste the freedom we can taste. Because while you and I are at the dinner table enjoying a meal we did not have to catch ourselves, someone else around the world is walking around in the coldness of the dark, looking for something (anything) to eat. While you and I are sitting on the couch watching the latest episode of our favourite program, someone else around the world is lying on the dirt floor of their mud-hut waiting for the sunshine to come. And while you and I are contemplating whether or not we should get out of bed in the frosty morning weather, someone else around the world is already up working the field because that is all that will keep them warm.
Right now you might be sitting at your desk at home, at a computer lab at school, at work, or wherever, and you look around and see all that you ever need to do something with your life. There is nothing to complain about; you have everything at your disposal to achieve all your goals and dreams. You may not see it, but you need to. And compared to the billions of people living in poverty around the world, life isn’t too bad at all.
So how can you ever complain about anything? How can you ever give up in anything? How can you ever say your life is tough?
I can never give up because there are billions of people around the world who don’t give up. I have no right to give up when a child wakes up everyday to severe poverty, not knowing where his breakfast might come from, or even if he will have any breakfast, or lunch, or dinner. Yet he wakes up anyway. Hopeful that with every passing day, with every passing hour, it is an hour, and a day that will move him closer to a better life.
Billions of people around the world wake up to this situation, and never give up; I can never give up. I have no right to give up. You can never give up. It would be an insult to the millions of unknown strugglers if I were to even contemplate the thought of giving up. I could have easily been with them, rather than where I am now. I could have been in their position, and they could be walking in my shoes, with the abundance of opportunities at my fingertips. I owe it to them, to show them what is possible, and to show them that their strength, and their will, and their determination to survive and to strive is a force that will take them to their dreams. I will never give up because they will never give up. And you should never give up.
And when I wake up in the morning I will have a smile on my face. I will smile not just because I am alive in these times, and in this place, but because I can do incredible things with my life. And so can you. Choose to look at life as an opportunity to fulfil your dreams, and in doing so help others to fulfil their dreams as well. Look at all your supposed problems as opportunities to learn and to grow. View each mistake as one you had to make to learn the lessons necessary to move you closer to your dreams. Think about all the possibilities in your life, and all the opportunities, and take advantage of them now, today, because tomorrow there will be even more available.
You can achieve anything and everything you set your mind to, so long as you can see all the possibilities available to you.
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