I so appreciated this post. While I know the current financial crisis is making life harder for some of us in the west, for the vast majority of us, that ‘harder’ is actually us just being unable to afford extravagant luxuries.

Given that I have a roof over my head, food in the cupboard, and in the fridge as well as electricity to cook it, clothes to wear and clean water to drink I’m already far from poor. In fact, I’m so wealthy sometimes I feel uncomfortable about it. When I walk past pet food in the supermarket I feel sick. We are so rich in the west, we make good food to feed to the dogs. I can’t get my head around it.

I recently posted on poverty for Blog Action Day http://embejoetc.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/blog-action-day-lets-talk-about-poverty/

I strongly believe that most of us rich westerners need to wake up and stop complaining about our lot. Gratitude really does change our perspective. We have so much to give. (and it doesn’t always have to be money…)

Thank you for your post. (This morning I donated to a project a fellow blogger is leading, to help hungry orphans in Thailand – Orphaned as a result of conflicts in neighbouring Burma) I hope lots of people are inspired to give.

I like reading blogs written by missionaries, Peace Corp volunteers and nonprofits because they are people who have seen a need and are doing something about it. It is so much more uplifting than listening to the naysayers and watching reports of famines, floods, disasters and war that report the events but don’t offer suggestions for helping alleviate the aftermath.