Travel is very dear to my heart and many of the things I've seen over the years are carved forever into my memory and my soul.
Something that impacted me greatly was realizing how little people have and how grateful they are for all that they do have. Need has made both adults and children more resourceful and creative. Across continents, children make balls out of discarded rubber bands and they make cars and trucks from empty milk/beer cartons, sticks, and bottle tops. They make whole zoos from stones and sticks and a cardboard box can be so many things that you hit the mother-lode if you find one!
The older boy in this photo had found such a box and hid it from me when I asked if I could take his picture, fearing that I may take his box from him. And how the perspective of this photo changes when you realize it's not of two little boys but, rather, of two little boys and their precious cardboard box.
Perhaps we'd all be better off if we could learn to be grateful for what we have rather than ungrateful for what we don't have.
Be grateful for what you have
rather than ungrateful for what you don't have.
Where was this taken, Rhia?
ReplyDeleteI am just curious, the message is there without the information!
Yes...I chose not to write where all the photos were taken because it makes me sound like a spoiled brat (e.g., this photo was taken in China, India, Borneo and so on). I backpacked on my own round lots of places (for over two years in total), eating where local people ate, staying where local people stayed. I lived on $5-$10 per day and that included food and lodgings. But anyway, this particular photo was taken in Guansho, China.
DeleteThanks for the reminder! I am so guilty of forgetting I have so much more than many in the world, and i should be grateful for each day!
ReplyDeleteI think we all slip into that error sometimes and need to be reminded at times. That's why traveling is so powerful, I think...it's hard to forget the look on people's faces.
Deletethanks Rhia! thanks for reminding me of how important gratitude is.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome; I find that we all need a gentle push in the right direction every now and then because it's so easy to forget when we get busy with our lives, don't you think?
ReplyDelete