have you ever thought
about jUST how lucky YOU are?
to have today
to be who you are
to have the AMAZING FORTUNE to live in these times?
to have your health... Yes...
to live in a free world...
to live in America...
And, most importantly to live in THIS time...
when our motherS and wives (yours or possibly even you) virtually never die at childbirth...
when you can get glasses to see, aides to hear...
we don't have to go around life not being able to see or hear clearly...
or in pain...
heck you can get a new kidney, a new hip, a new knee, even a new heart...
and you can know great comfort in most cases while that happens!
Years ago after operations most people, if they didn't die, would life in great discomfort
every day
the REST of their lives.
you can get artificial limbs...
that work!
we have hospitals and knowledgeable doctors...
for most of us, water is available whenever and wherever you need it... In abundance... (But let's not be wasteful)
when you can know what is going on in all of the world... almost instantly...
when you can talk to those you love when you want (there was a time before phones existed, there was a time when talking to your girlfriend away at college costed you a whole pay check or more per month)
heck you can see the face of your children and their smiles LIVE on FaceTime while they walk to their next class
when seldom long trips are required away from your immediate family...
(We've grown spoiled where a week away from home seems long... When not long ago months or years away from home where the norm)...
or, the opposite... some never traveled.
This is a time when...
you've likely seen lots of places around the United States that most people 100 year ago never saw...
you've possibly been more places around the world... that throughout history has been almost impossible to do...
I have been to China, Thailand, Italy, Greece, Israel, Peru, France, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Indonesia and so, so many more... in person...
And I can go back with Google this next minute... virtually...
Every book and movie and video clip is available to us in an instant...
we have greater access to ALL knowledge than EVER...
Almost ANYTHING you want to know
is available instantly...
IMAGINE...
there was a time when nothing was...
when you read the next book you could borrow or find... Regardless of what it was... when only the rich could afford books... when government banned books (some still do)...
Heck not that long ago most people couldn't even read.
Now you can have thousands of books in a single tablet...
our kids are safer than ever from health risks and predators...
our kids don't have to endure hunger, cold, even pain in most cases...
there is novocaine...
And a full refrigerator...
and indoor heating and cooling
and indoor plumbing...
your coffee is ground...
your turkey is cooked
and sliced
cars exist
and you likely have one
You likely have an amazing one
and it rarely breaks down...
and probably even talks to you and tells you where to go and, if it doesn't, your phone probably does.
you can learn and grow at a pace that has never been possible...
you have access to food... All kinds of food all year round...
We eat mangos in the winter...
You can eat fresh Halibut from Alaska in Maryland the next day...
we go on boats, we go in planes, we go in cars and on bikes and even on paddle boards and helicopters...
we get to choose
who we are
what we learn
how we live
as NEVER before
and we get to
DO
and
BE
longer in most cases...
though quantity should never be our goal...
Have you ever thought all the abundance that you have at your disposal...
and all the hardship that we don't have, that so many before us did...
tap into that awesome great fortune
everyone of us is living a life that is beyond miraculous...
and unimaginable in terms of how WEALTHY we are with comfort and opportunity...
I am luckier than billions and billions and billions that have come before me... not just by a little bit... but by a landslide...
I am so very much luckier than my two sisters, Dee and Ana...
And, I am free...
Freer than most...
Because I am continually learning to go far beyond my own opinions...
Way beyond my own biases...
To see the vast and beautiful world all around me... And the amazing souls that fill my life...
I am
deeply grateful...
wildly curious...
humbly inspired...
and motivated (and occasionally haunted) to constantly seize the day...
in abundance
in awareness
and
in harmony,
Nestor