Oxygen, water, food, shelter, and sleep, once known as the basic human survival needs, quickly escalated as industries boomed, technology arose, and Google became your new best friend. As a millennial born in the United States, the aspects of taking a hot shower, ability to flush the toilet paper I just wiped my ass with down the toilet, and convenience of buying pre-made spiralized zucchini, aka zoodles, at the grocery store seemed like a common way of living, I soon realized these are luxuries. Simple luxuries I take for granted day in and day out.
Having traveled to third world countries before and currently living in one at the moment, it’s always a humbling reminder that I am beyond fortunate. As I walk through the unpaved streets escorted by stray dogs and see women balancing giant fruit baskets on their head, I feel a grounding sensation that makes me appreciate the value of simplicity.
I live and grew up in a world where everything is convenient. We no longer need to watch the weather channel and can simply just ask our girl Alexa. We no longer need to physically vacuum our home and can simply buy a Roomba to clean it for you. And we don’t even have to waste our thumb energy by scrolling through channels on the TV. You can literally speak to the remote and tell it exactly what channel to put on. Yea all these things are nice to have, but when you step away from this bubble, you soon realize what’s most important to you and allow yourself to let go of the rest.
So next time you start to stress because your Amazon package is delayed, your wait time for an Uber is over 5 minutes, or your server brought you a salad with dressing on it when you specifically said ‘no dressing’, just know these are luxuries you’re stressing about, and you are lucky to have this stress.