Last month, on 5 January 2013, I was admitted to the hospital for typhoid. Typhoid is a disease caused by Salmonella typhy bacteria that can be transmitted by unsanitary food consumption and causes intestinal infection. Recovery time is normally 2-3 weeks, during which time you need plenty of rest and are only allowed very strict diet that consists of soft foods. You’re forbidden to eat virtually everything you would normally eat on a regular basis.
Why does it take losing something to truly appreciate it?: “My Sambel Cravings”
This is the second time I’ve caught this illness. The first time I had typhoid was when I was in junior high. From both experiences, I can say that the worst thing about this illness is that you have to give up a lot of food in order to get better. I’m happy to report that I’m now eating soft rice (versus porridge), I’ve slowly started eating regular meat (versus ground meat), unfortunately I haven’t had a drop of coffee yet. But of course, as a red-blooded Indonesian, my biggest torture of all is that I haven’t been able to eat sambel (chili) since January.
This whole experience made me evaluate my life and think about how quickly we can lose something that’s valuable to us. I’m lucky that sambel was the biggest thing that I miss most, and my recovery time has been relatively short until I can go back to normal. But what about those who miss a lot more than food, like loved ones, health, time – and can’t get them back?
“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Are We Worthy of being First-Class Passengers of Life?
I saw a wonderful quote on Facebook “Everything is temporary. If we’re happy, enjoy the moment because it will not last. If we’re sad, don’t worry cos’ it will not last either.” It’s somewhat disturbing yet encouraging, saddening yet empowering that all things are short-lived. I began to ponder how we can remind ourselves about this notion and try to live in the moment. Humans take things for granted because of many reasons, but mainly because we think we’ll get another round of it again. We get so caught up in the rush of things, we forget to sit back and relish the moment. And I hate that I’m guilty of this too! So how can we ‘live in the moment’ more? And then the word “privilege” popped like a light bulb to me!”. I think if we would see all the things we have as a “privilege”, instead of a “right”, then we could begin to appreciate and enjoy our life experiences more.
By dictionary definition, privilege means ‘a right or immunity granted as a benefit, advantage, or favor’. It’s a frequently-used term in the business world to distinguish primary customers from the rest. This small selected group of customers is typically given an additional distinctive treatment and service because it has allotted what the company deems as significant amount of business to them. We, on the other side love hearing the word because it implies “I’m one of the select few”
Airline companies have privilege programs, namely business and first class. Nowadays, some airlines have even broadened the scope by selling emergency exit seats and other form of comfortable seating arrangements. It’s a wonderful way of giving passengers who are willing to pay more a better experience on air. From what I’ve observed, a first class passenger tends to board the plane with a slightly more positive disposition than a coach passenger would, will want to take advantage of the experience and enjoy every bit of it. You pay more for the reward.
If Life is a Privilege, Remember to Earn your Membership Points!
What we sometimes don’t realize with “privilege programs” is that they come with terms and conditions, it’s not free of charge (in fact it’s usually more expensive than what most people would pay), is only given to those they deem fit the bill and last but not least, it has expiration date. So you see, if we could try to look at our life as a privilege, we may start to see that although it is ‘granted’ to us, it surely isn’t a free gift, it will expire at some point, we have to earn it and hopefully when we do get it we will savor it like if we were a deserving “first class” passenger.
Have we put in enough towards our long-term life privilege program? Have we put in enough exercise and balanced lifestyle for our Health privilege? Have we put in enough love and appreciation towards our Family privilege? Have we put in enough hard work and determination towards our Success privilege? Have we put in enough self-appreciation and respect towards our own Happiness privilege?
“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. “ -Frank A. Clark
This blog is dedicated especially to my family who stuck by me during those hard times. And to my friends and everyone who kept me in your prayers. I love you all 🙂
Turning Life Experiences into Life Skills 