Feelin' Lucky (but not in that sense)

[miniacky07]

So this morning I was watching this documentary about the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and I've got to say, stuff like that is really grounding. I mean, for example, in this one impoverished area in Kenya, there was this girl. Both of her parents were dead. All she had left in the world was her sister. The person visiting her asked her if she could have anything, what she would want. At first, the girl said that she would like a backpack for her school books. In a moment, however, she burst into tears and asked to leave with the people filming the documentary. Or like in Madagascar they interviewed this woman who was HIV+, and she talked about how she was shunned in her community, and she wondered whether the people interviewing her were worried they would get the disease from talking to her. And I'm watching all of this on my comfy couch in a nice house in a pretty plush neighborhood on this big TV screen, and I think about how lucky I am. It sounds so cliche, but I mean, seeing people who have nothing and no one and are facing problems I can't even fathom makes all of the issues in my life seem much more insignificant. Who cares if I can't afford a car, or if I don't get into every single college I apply to? I know that I will be alright and that I will be taken care of, which is more than many, many people in this world can say. It's funny how you get thinking about things like that. I mean, I've seen films and TV spots and all of these things just like what I watched this morning, but maybe I was in the wrong state of mind when I saw it? I don't know. It just really hit me today.

We are really, really lucky individuals.

Really.