A Precious Human Life

“EVERY DAY, THINK AS YOU WAKE UP,
TODAY I AM FORTUNATE TO HAVE WOKEN UP,
I AM ALIVE, I HAVE A PRECIOUS HUMAN LIFE.
I AM NOT GOING TO WASTE IT.
I AM GOING TO USE ALL OF MY ENERGIES TO DEVELOP MYSELF
TO EXPAND MY HEART OUT TO OTHERS.
TO ACHIEVE ENLIGHTENMENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL BEINGS.
I AM GOING TO HAVE KIND THOUGHTS TOWARDS OTHERS.
I AM NOT GOING TO GET ANGRY
OR THINK BADLY ABOUT OTHERS.
I AM GOING TO BENEFIT OTHERS AS MUCH AS I CAN.”

H.H. THE XIVTH DALAI LAMA

Challenging Consumption Culture

In case you’ve been living under a rock, this weekend has been bookmarked by Black Friday and Cyber Monday – which has basically meant discounts galore.  So far, so good.  I mean, I took advantage to get nearly 30% off a coat I have had my eye on for a while.  But I was really shocked and saddened to see pictures of people literally fighting over discounted goods on Friday; it got so bad in some areas that the police had to be called to a number of stores in London, Cardiff and Manchester.

I find this display of greed and conspicuous consumption particularly uncomfortable at a time when I am preparing to live in a developing country for four months.  Over 40% of people in Bangladesh still live below the poverty line – on less than $1.20 a day.  I will be living in a host home during my placement and I don’t know yet whether it will even have an indoor bathroom.  So, seeing people fighting over a discounted TV was really quite jarring.

This incident has also got me thinking about Christmas.  With Advent starting tomorrow, I know many people have already started shopping for gifts; my family have been asking what I want for weeks now.  It’s a question I often struggle with but one that I have found even harder to answer this year.  I really don’t want to sound ungracious because I am very grateful for having friends and family that want to give me presents – ones that I might actually want – and I am very fortunate that I earn enough that I don’t really want for anything.  But I’ve found the whole thing quite difficult this year.  I don’t want ‘stuff’.  I guess what I do want is to know that people I care about thought about me and wanted to do something to make me happy.  I want their love and their time.  And those are things that money can’t buy.

I’m not really sure what I wanted to achieve by blogging about this today.  I suppose I just wanted to get it off my chest.  But maybe it will prompt you to think about your consumption during the festive season – to think about what is actually important to you and remember all the people around the world who are less fortunate than you.

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As part of my fundraising efforts for VSO, I will be doing a Live Below the Line challenge, where I will spend only £1 a day on food and drink.  I’ll be blogging more about that later in December but, in the meantime, if you want to read more about my placement with VSO and to help me raise money on their behalf, please head over to my JustGiving page.

Everything will be okay, right?

Life is not going quite going the way I want it to at the moment.  When I left the military in the summer, I had this impression of how things would be with a fantastic new job and a life in the city.  Well, the fantastic new job is proving more elusive than I expected and, after nearly four months of looking, I’m starting to get a little down about it.

At this point, I have to remember to be grateful for all the positive things I have in my life.  I am working in a interesting, challenging job (just not the one I want!).  I have a roof over my head – well, more than that, I have a lovely home.  I have loving, supportive family and friends.  And I’m healthy.  That’s quite a lot to be thankful for!

Anyone who has experience tough times will know that all of those things don’t necessarily stop you feeling a bit rubbish sometimes.  But all I can do right now is keep working hard and have a little bit of faith that things will work themselves and that it is going to be okay.  Maybe not any time soon, but it is going to be okay.  Right?