sacrifice
I had a draft post started that was going to be your run-of-the-mill "rob posts about some amazing new cameras or lenses or whatever." This summer has been pretty exciting as far as that is concerned, but the post felt hollow and empty after this past Sept 1.
On that Tuesday, in lieu of layoffs or furloughs, my company cut everyone's pay by 10% for the remainder of the year. And, while I'm very grateful to have a job and while I certainly recognize the room for belt-tightening in our finances, I was worried and stressed. I don't think things are magically going to turn around on 01/01/2010.
But these worries seem silly too as people I know or people I'm acquainted with are unemployed or looking at losing half their income.
Then, later that day, my mom emailed me a video file and I realized that this is what I should be writing about.
The file was a 1996 or 1997 interview my paternal grandfather gave World War II historians of the US Army's 12th Armored Division. They simply asked him to recount his time in the Army from when he was drafted until he was discharged. It's not a terribly long story (the video is about 20 minutes) and he and I have talked many times before about his time in the service.
But my point here is this: I far too often forget how blessed I am. How tightening the budget by 10% is so minuscule an act compared to the sacrifices made by our grandparents generation (multiple times within their lifetimes, might I add). 400,000+ sacrificed their lives and millions more sacrificed the food on their tables and the clothes on their backs.
This may seem hyperbolic, but we (as a generation) really do not understand how good we have it. This is natural, given how far we are removed from these time periods, but it's something that I think should be dwelled upon.
This shouldn't be something that needs reminding, but I indeed can lose sight of what's really important. And so, while I'm grateful for what I have, more importantly I'm grateful for the people I have around me.