About gratefulness
Being grateful for how lucky I am is one of the most important things I have learnt during my volunteering service, and especially during this uncertain time of quarantine. I’ve realized that in my life I always had something to feel grateful about, and probably I will always have.
Just some days after the Greek Government started to take the most restrictive measures, around mid March, Ander, Raquel and Martin, my Spanish flatmates who were in the volunteering project, decided to go back to Spain due to the uncertainty about the future of our stay here in Thessaloniki; even knowing that things were not so good at home. Corina and Lars decided to stay and I decided to stay too, thinking that everything would go back to normality soon.
At that moment I thought how lucky I was that even in a hard situation like this. With the most of the borders closed and the flights banned, I could leave Greece and go with my family if I wanted to. And then it came to my mind all the people around the world that for many different reasons were apart from their beloved ones and couldn’t go back with them, not only now because of the circumstances, but always, due to various causes that obliged them to move far away from their families.
Some days after my flatmates left, the measures went harder and we were asked to stay at home and go out only if it was necessary. Then I realized once more about how lucky I was that I could actually stay at home, because I have one. But this is not the reality for many people. The most vulnerable ones became even more vulnerable, and in a moment when they needed us more than ever, the world just stopped.
You only need to stay thinking for two minutes to be aware of how privileged you are. For having a home, a family, hot meal everyday… Feel grateful for it, instead of focusing on what you don’t have, and you’ll realize how rich you are indeed. And enjoy everything like it was a present, because it is; don’t take anything for granted. Delight every sunset you can see, maybe tomorrow you’ll be at home under a global lockdown.
