Cancellation?

I bet I have your attention now! Sorry, I just had to do it. But rest assured, their are no cancellations of any kind! As of right now everything is right on schedule. News from Peru informs me that all the gifts are purchased and are waiting to be given to deserving Peruvian children.

As far as my personal needs are concerned, I am feeling more and more excited as the weeks go by. My luggage is all packed except for my clothes and laptop. My passport is crisp, my phone and credit card companies are informed, and my family is pumped!

And I am pumped too! This trip has stirred more interest than I could ever have imagined and has grown to a size I would have never dreamt possible. Sometimes its even hard to think about. It's hard to sometimes think about the people this program is going to be helping this year and how their lives compare to mine.

Recently I have found myself thinking about my life and how it relates to others. It's hard sometimes to live with myself and see some of the things that I take for granted every single day. I promise you not a day goes by that I don't take something for granted. I have everything I could ever need or even want and yet I still find myself getting flustered over minor things. Whether it be the time I have to stand in the cold waiting for a warm bus that can take me anywhere I want to go, the difficultly of the tests I have to take in order to get a lifelong education, burning my tongue on the coffee that I just bought with my very own money, or the time it takes for me to drive home and hug my family members. How can it be that all these things can actually get on a persons nerves? Everything I have and yet I can still find things that upset me. I mean, some people don't have buses, cars or even bicycles. In order to get somewhere they walk. And education? Some people are lucky to know how to read let alone know what Calculus is and how to apply it to electricity. And money? I think it's clear not everyone gets the luxury of buying hot coffee with their dollar and 29 cents each morning. And some people are so far away from their family members, its impossible to drive home and give them a hug on the weekends. Some can't even do that. So why is it these things bother me? Why is it I get upset or don't feel like I just won the lottery every time I wake up in the morning when I am living like a king?

The answer to these questions is simple. It's my focus. Little things bother me only when my focus is not on what it should be. Instead of wanting more I should be thankful. Only then will I be happy.

The answer may be simple but applying it can be hard. With all the distractions this holiday season and all the things that cause us to loose focus on what really matters, let's all just think about how easy we really have it, how much we really have, and how great our lives really are.