Perspective

On the eve of Thanksgiving, as I take a moment to reflect on all that I have to be thankful for in my life, I am reminded of an email that passed through my inbox some time ago. It contained a PowerPoint presentation that provided an enlightening view of how the world would look if the earth’s population was condensed to 100 people. I don’t know where the email originated, as it had been forwarded a number of times before it found its way to me, but after a quick Google search, I came across something very similar at miniature-earth.com.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we often become so wrapped up in our own circumstances that it can be easy to lose sight of just how fortunate we really are in comparison to the majority of the world. In honor of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a few of the eye-opening statistics from the Miniature Earth presentation that really help to put things in perspective:

“53 [of the 100 people] struggle to live on $2.00 per day or less.”

“If you keep your food in a refrigerator, your clothes in a closet . . . if you have a bed to sleep in and a roof over your head, you are richer than 75% of the entire world population.”

“If you have a bank account, you’re one of the 30 wealthiest people in the world.”

Keep these statistics in mind the next time you find yourself complaining about your stressful job, or cursing the long lines at the grocery store. Instead, be grateful that you have the means to earn a living and enough money to put food on your table. I urge you to visit the Miniature Earth website and view the full presentation (currently available in five different languages), which also includes a demographic profile of the 100-person population. It’s only a couple of minutes long and very interesting.

~Wishing you a safe and happy Thanksgiving~