Anyone who has experienced poverty first-hand will tell you it is an enemy to be feared. I agree wholeheartedly, but those who have plenty face another enemy that is just as destructive: complaisance. It's the other side of the poverty coin, the side that perpetuates the cycle.
When we have enough, when all our needs are met, we sometimes see no need to give. I have experienced both sides of this equation. I grew up poor, worked my way into a better lifestyle, then experienced a combination of career and health setbacks that caused me to face the monster of poverty once more.
To anyone who does not have enough to eat, or a roof over your head, you have my sincerest empathy. I'm sorry that I allowed my own comfortable situation to blind me to your need for so long.
I will never again take for granted the ability to put gas in my car. Or the blessing of having a car to drive.
I will never again take for granted my electricity that was almost turned off, my house that was almost foreclosed on, and my employment that was so unexpectedly lost.
The ability to meet my expenses was taken from me for a time, but in the process I found myself. I now see more clearly the needs of others, and I have a renewed sense of gratitude for the blessings that remain.
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