“You better eat that spinach young lady, because there are starving kids in Africa who don’t have anything to eat!”

How many times did we all hear our elders reprimand us in this way when we were little? Well, during Christmas break, as I was enjoying the freedom from studying for stressful tests, I saw a documentary on the Discovery channel about starving children in Africa.

These kids slept on the streets at night with maybe a burlap sack to cover them and during the day they walked with bare feet through garbage looking for something to eat. That sounds like something that couldn’t possibly be true…it’s too heart-wrenching and ugly. But it is true. I was suddenly launched back into the past to all the times that my mother or father would scold me for wasting food. One can’t help but feel guilty.

However, I did not stop watching the Discovery Channel and a few days later I saw another documentary about a former model who had been in a car explosion and her features were distorted and hideous. Then, a few days after that the tsunami hit Thailand, India, Indonesia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Maldives and I watched people on the news shifting through the rubble, looking for pieces of their former lives or loved ones, and trying to repair the havoc the monstrous wave had caused.

Another couple of days later, I stood in front of my mirror looking at myself in a pair of jeans and complaining to myself about how fat I was and how awful my hair looked. Every girl has stood in my shoes and done that very thing.

So where does this tie into my story? Well, as I was watching those events on TV, I felt deep pity for those unfortunate people in those other countries, but I never stopped to be thankful for what I had. Until one day, out of the clear blue, it dawned on me: ‘Hey, I am so blessed, lucky and downright privileged to not only live in America, but to have everything that I own.’ What right do I have to complain about my weight when those poor children in Africa, with their bones sticking out of their skin, are struggling so hard just to stay alive? Where do I get off fussing about my hair when I could have no hair like those sick children at St. Jude’s hospital? When all this finally came flooding into my mind, I felt about two feet tall. I have so much and live in one of the greatest countries in the world, and yet I lacked the ability or rather, the intelligence, to realize it.

America is considered by many to be the greatest nation in the world. Thousands of people flock here everyday to bask in the land of milk and honey. However, it is also the fattest nation in the world. By that I mean that people here are mostly overweight, compared with those in other nations. We’re also very lazy. I had a friend once from Sweden, and he told me that in his country, people walk almost everywhere they need to go. But here, we’d rather drive two blocks than walk. How true his words were. 

America is also a very wasteful nation. We throw away so much everyday that the kids in Africa wouldn’t be so hungry anymore if they came and dug in our dumpsters. How many people have pantries brimming full of food that couldn’t possibly be eaten in a week, let alone half a year? And yet, we don’t give it a second thought when we throw out the chips we let get stale and buy a new bag.

Constantly, I hear students complaining about their professors, or their tests, or their grades. Continuously, I hear my friends and relatives complain about how tiresome their jobs are. We are all guilty of thinking that life is so bad and so hard for us that we forget to stop and think about all that we do have. Sure life can be tough sometimes, but it could be so much tougher.

I’m not saying that we should stop whining and complaining altogether-that would be impossible. It’s only human to groan and complain about our lives sometimes. But perhaps, before we let a whine escape our pouting lips next time, we should stop and think about those that have so little compared to us.

We have a free government. How wretched would we be if we lived in a country where communism reigned? But on a more personal level, we have our families and friends, the love of those who support and care for us. To lose all that, like so many did when the tsunami hit, would be horrendous.

I know that as humans, we can’t help but forget to be thankful all the time for everything we have. But I’m trying not to complain so much, and to keep in mind those things that I am so grateful to have. I’m trying not to waste, and to keep in mind those less fortunate than me. I’m trying to always keep in mind the words of my mother and father, and to eat my spinach because those kids in Africa are still starving.