Well, here I am at 4 AM. I know that's not normal, but jet-lag. I arrived back from a 12 day trip to Nepal last night. Not just "a trip to Nepal". I shouldn't say that so nonchalantly.. It's more like, I just got back from a trip that literally changed me. Opened my eyes. However you want to word it, it was an experience that molded me into a better version of myself.
With today being Thanksgiving, I find it especially appropriate to jot down a few thoughts that have settled on me after my recent trip.
I don't believe it is essential to personally experience/witness extreme poverty to realize how tragic it is. Nor do I believe it necessary to witness extreme poverty in order to be an individual who has a daily spirit of thanksgiving. However; I openly admit, that I have lived 25 years with a rather naïve innocence of what it truly means to "go without." I'll expound. In fact, why don't you just take this as my attempt to enlighten you a bit as you watch America spend billions upon billions on the Macey's Thanksgiving parade, and as you prep your insides to stuff them with un-necessary amounts of calories. (I promise I'm not trying to make you have a lousy Thanksgiving!! My sheer writing of this post has only made this like my BEST and most meaningful Thanksgiving so far!!! I mean that from the bottom of my Sherpa heart.
In Nepal, I saw people quite literally "go without."And I'm not referring to you having to "go without" your $1,000 season pass to Park City, that you just have to pass up this year. This is literally GOING WITHOUT, people. I learned what it means to "go-without"--the things that I so selfishly enjoy every day. Things like: shoes and socks, clean water, a roof over my head, food to eat, clean air to breathe, basic technologies.
Here are my major (yet not that profound) take-aways.
Go ahead and read on, if you want to have a slightly more introspective day of Thanks...
1. Often the things we see the most, are the same things we so easily begin to not see
Every day I wake up and take a shower. Never before have I realized how blessed I am to be able to enjoy the simple luxury of a hot shower. I don't think I had ever really stopped for long enough to even imagine what life would be like without that blessing. What would it feel like to shower 1X/week (if that) like these Nepali people?? Have we ever stopped to think about how amazing it is that we can take a hot clean shower every day??? My biggest concern is who I'll have to schmooze into snaking the hair out of my drain. I meaaaaan, come on. We lead pathetically spoiled lives. It's not necessarily that we need to feel guilty for having that blessing, but I sure am grateful for showers. If you want to really gain a personal testimony of showers, I invite you to take part in what I now refer to as a "Wet Wipe Shower". The process is very basic. Do that for a few days, and I promise you, you'll begin to appreciate your hot, high pressure showers just a tad bit more...
2. Living a life of gratitude means you stop wanting, and start recognizing what you already have
Driving a car around, grabbing a blanket when I'm cold, sipping a hot chocolate just because my feet are cold, having a steady income, buying a new outfit when I'm feeling depressed, going out to eat with friends, taking a trip with family, watching a chick-flick, going for a run (in comfy running shoes I might add). Why do we sit on Pinterest and fantasize about useless material stuff? Then, somehow always want more?? We always need more. I drive myself crazy just thinking about my pre-birthday post I made with my Pinterest Birthday wish-list!!!!(no, I know you were wishing I was going to put a link to that post in here, but I wouldn't dare disgrace myself again like that) I want to commit myself to try a little harder to look at the bounteous life I have, and simply appreciate it-a little bit more. The "Monica's Birthday Pinterest Wish-list" post is the "old me"!!!!!! Pathetic, blugh. Below is an awesome quote from the Prophet of the Mormon church (yes, I'm Mormon :) -- that means I believe this man is a prophet of God, just like any prophet in the old or new Testament)
President Monson (the prophet) said: " A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
3. There is always someone with less than you, or who has it worse
I know you think that life ends, when you only get 22 likes on your most recent Instagram post. I know you want to cry when you spill fry sauce on your fresh new shirt you bought so you could look hott when you watched the football game with all your uber-stylish friends. Let me just share with you a simple experience I had last week, in a small city in Nepal.
A very scrawny little girl about 8 years followed me around for several hours. On her hip, sat another little girl, about 2. The two year old was just as filthy. Neither had shoes, their hair was stringy, and they smelled like they hadn't bathed in weeks. The 8 year old followed me around, and continuously offered up her sister to me. No, she wasn't asking me if I wanted to hold the cute little orphaned child, she was offering her sister in a much more literal sense. Yes, she was attempting to "sell" her sister to me. That was a first. I fought back the tears that welled in my eyes. I got back on our bus, and there she appeared, one last time. I could see her pointing at her sister, and mouthing the same words to me. We drove away, and I could hardly take it. A few hours later, this entire experience really sank in. For a few dollars, a child, literally tried to sell me another human being. That moment as that little girl stared up at me with her baby sister "for sale" I realized once more, how much I have to be grateful for.
4. Live a more fulfilled life not just by forcing yourself to "go without" but just start to be a little more aware of what you have, and appreciate it in the moment
I don't think that in order to appreciate food, you need to run off and eat curry and rice for 12 days for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert (although I won't argue you wont get that effect if you choose to do so...) On a lighter note, what I'm saying is, say a prayer of thanks when you eat a bowl of Cracklin' Oat Bran. I mean, that stuff is delicious. I could and would eat an entire box if I didn't care about all the fiber in those, and I didn't mind the inevitable repercussions of doing so--OK, I'm about to get real tangential here, but don't even get me started on talks of fiber...how grateful I am for American toilets!! ( I almost said American Potties. HAHA! Only because I had to go in a "Squatty Potty" for the past 2 weeks. (click at your own risk, to see what a squatty potty looks like.) BE AWARE, is what I'm saying here. Think about how awesome it is that I can literally communicate with anyone anywhere in the world via my smart phone. Be grateful every time you lay your head down on your memory foam pillow, or drink water from a restaurant and not have to worry whether it contains sewage or not.
5. Be grateful not only for the good in your life, but also be grateful for the bad
I often forget to give thanks to God, for the hard stuff. Sometimes it's not easy to be like "Wow, I'm so happy for this absolutely crappy situation I'm in right now. I'm gaining so much from this. I love life. Thanks!" I get it, it's so hard to do. But something I really realized tonight, is that life is sometimes good, and it's great when it is. However; "life is not meant to only be appreciated in retrospect." I know that we've been commanded to "thank the Lord thy God in ALL things. (D&C 59:7)" I could do a little better at that one.
This trip I went on, really was UN-real and yet VERY real all at once. Things that were "UN-real" to me before, in essence, became "real" to me. I'm grateful for the chance I had to witness poverty and play a small part in changing lives for the better.
Here is one final quote from President Monson: "When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given."
I truly am grateful for my life, and all the blessings I have. My family and friends, but most importantly Jesus Christ. He's the reason I can even be happy in the first place. I'm very weak, but through him, He helps me to improve on my weaknesses, and become a better person every day! Happy Thanksgiving folks!
PS, this post was inspired by my trip to Nepal, but became less and less about the deets of the trip. An actual post dedicated to the trip + Pictures will come soon :)
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