Many of us rush through each day with too much to do and not enough time; one day flows into another and before we know it, another year has passed. In the day-to-day rush, it is very easy to take things for granted and not fully appreciate and feel grateful for our life. To appreciate something means becoming aware of its real value, recognising its full worth.
When you really stop to consider the vastness of life, it is hard not to be astonished, amazed, and awestruck with what it is to be human. Starting with the oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and other atoms in your amazing body, which were first created in distant stars over 4.5 billion years ago; your body has many interdependent systems like respiratory, circulation, and digestion, that with modern medicine, could keep you alive for over one hundred years.
You can be aware of thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and sense perceptions flowing through your experience. You can change the focus of your attention, use language to communicate and think, empathize with other people’s emotions, and build relationships.
You live on the third planet from the star in our solar system, the only one that sustains life. The earth is just the right distance from the sun, not too hot or too cold. If you are lucky, you were born in a safe part of the planet, free from natural disasters and, when compared globally, with a relatively stable economic and political environment. The chances are you have never been homeless or hungry for long and have enjoyed access to education and career opportunities. In contrast, almost half of the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day and lacks access to proper sanitation services. And around two billion people have no access to safe and clean drinking water.
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