My brother, his wife and my parents came over for dinner tonight. Because we have family in Egypt, we started talking about the political situation over there and how our family is dealing with the situation. I have two aunts and an uncle who live there. They have all been confined in their house for the past 10 days, afraid to get out and get caught in some kind of riot.
Young men who live in their respective buildings are going around the apartments of older residents, offering their help in getting groceries and essential goods. The line-ups at all food stores are apparently enormous, so it often takes hours to buy even a loaf of bread. All television stations, except for the Egyptian ones, which are controlled by the state, all cellular phones and Internet connections have been disconnected. My mother was able to speak to her brother and sisters on their home lines.
And here we are, complaining about the weather. Egyptians have been living under the dictatorship of Mubarak for 30 years, in a political system filled with corruption and injustice. Sure, our political system is not perfect. And, it is certainly not entirely free of corruption and inequalities, but we can still trust that our rights will be respected. Egyptians and many other people living under autocratic regimes cannot say that.
Being able to live in security, knowing that you have rights and that you are protected by the law, being able to walk freely and express your opinion without fearing anything or anyone, are all things we take for granted.
And so if we became more aware of the privileged lives we lead and realized that we often complain about trivial things; if we had the ability to really put our problems in perspective, perhaps we would find yet another reason to truly be happy and enjoy life. Being grateful for what you have is definitely an important ingredient to happiness.
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