I’ve been thinking of writing this post for a while now.  Partially because I’m sometimes a complete brat about the “bad things” happening in my life and tend to forget to put it all in perspective.  Well, just found out that a fellow writer I’d interacted with fairly regularly on one of the forums passed away a couple months ago.  Puts shit in perspective even more than normal.

So.

I am fortunate because…

1. I have my health.
2. I am able to live alone.
3. I have a car to drive to work and back.
4. I can go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want to eat each week.
5. I have close friends, some of whom offered to let me stay with them when I joked that I’ll be homeless next month.
6. I have family to spend my holidays with.
7. I can afford to go see my family on the holidays if I’m not in Colorado at the time.
8. I can take vacations.
9. I’ve been able to travel internationally.
10. I was able to go to college.
11. I have a puppy and am able to take care of her.
12. I have free time to waste on TV and the internet.
13. I have the free time and resources to write a novel if I could ever get my shit together.
14. I have an education and work experience that will let me get a job that can keep a roof over my head even if it isn’t the prettiest roof.
15. I’m a citizen of a first-world country that may not be perfect but offers me tons of opportunities that would not be available to me in most of the rest of the world.
16. The way I choose to look and live my life are acceptable to the majority of the people in the society in which I live.
17. I’ve been able to have close relationships with both of my parents.
18. I can pay my bills each month without having  to prioritize one payment over the other or telling someone “the check is in the mail.”
19. I have all the electricity and safe drinking water that I want.
20. I can safely walk down the street without being attacked, shot, or at risk of being bombed.

I’m sure there are other items I could add to the list.  But these are the few that I sometimes take for granted and then I see some story in the news or think about someone I know and realize how easy I have it.

It’s easy to get caught up in our own issues–I know I certainly have the last few months.  But sometimes it helps to step back for a minute and think just how much worse it could be.

I am also fortunate because one of the followers of this blog, David Higgins, reviewed one of my short stories, Freya’s Tale, yesterday.  His review came at a time when I was a little down on my existing stories that are out there, so that perked me up.

Plus, this is the story I’m always worried people will misinterpret, but he did a fantastic job of describing what I was going for with the story, so that was awesome as well.  It’s people like David (and Merri, the woman who passed away) who make online writing spaces such a positive experience.  He’s also been doing some pretty cool things with self-publishing and writing, so check him out if you haven’t already.