Feeling So Blessed

I feel so blessed with my life so far. Sometimes I muse over how my life could have been so different. I could have been growing up in a third world country but instead, my destiny finds me here in a first world country which is a far cry from Cambodia.

My parents could have chosen not to blatantly risk their lives to escape from a war torn communist country. They could have chosen to face death on a daily basis but instead, they found courage from deep within themselves to escape through the jungles, past mounds of murdered bodies thrown into unburied piles and eventually found refuge in a Thai refugee camp.

I feel so blessed and thankful for the wonderful people and things in my life.

Frequently, I think about Cambodia and how poor the majority of the population is due to the corruption of the elite few. I aim to return there one day and make a positive difference by contributing to my relatives welfare and to any poor families that I meet along my journey.

It's crazy to think that my income for a single week is equivalent to what my relatives in Cambodia earn with one years' worth of labour. I could work one year over here and it would take most of my relatives 52 years of labour to earn the equivalent. You may be thinking, 'Well, the cost of living is higher in Sydney than Cambodia' and you're right, it is. But at the end of the day, the cost of living here isn't that catastrophic that it precludes us from saving. If anyone here can't save, usually it's because they spend too much and are in denial.

Wealthy isn't just a state of material possessions. It's also a state of mind and how content you are in life. If you think about the trials and tribulations that life has thrown at you, can it really compare to what people have faced in war torn nations such as Iraq? Or being forced to labour or be killed? Not that your troubles aren't as mammoth but when we compare the troubles that we face to the other extreme, it does help put things into perspective. And you know what, it helps us to feel so blessed. To not worry and stress over things that we can't control. To feel grateful. To be content and happy with the simple things in life.