What I Learned from Eating a Subway Sandwich

So, as I mentioned in my Christmas roundups, one of the luxuries I had in Dar Es Salaam was the ability to enjoy a meal from Subway. This is the most I have ever enjoyed a sub in my life. And then we went to the theatre to see a movie. The theatre was large, the sound was good, it was air conditioned. Basically everything beyond my imagination. These escapes were highlights for me, breaks from the every day here. And I got so much joy out of these simple things. It occurred to me that this was probably the most I had ever enjoyed a sub, or a night at the movies, in my entire life. And it made me think about how when I lived in Canada, I had so much stuff available to me that I could not help but take it for granted. Instead of a luxury to be enjoyed, a sub is something merely to be consumed to satisfy my hunger so I can rush back to work. I always enjoyed going to the theatre, but the lack of it for so long made this visit special and more enjoyable. It occurred to me that overindulgence in anything leads to diminishing joy. It is so easy to take things for granted when you can have virtually anything you want. But it was so much more special to enjoy them as luxuries. And seeing a sub and a movie as a luxury is not something I would have said in Toronto.

Sometimes I wonder what about me will change when I get back to Canada, and what will remain the same. What patterns will I fall back into, and what will be permanently changed? Will I be able to treat a sub or a movie as a luxury to be enjoyed, or will I overindulge because I can, and miss the value in these simple experiences. What else do I take for granted that I should be profoundly thankful for? One needs only spend time with a quadraplegic to begin to be thankful for movement, or spend time in a hospital to be thankful for health, or spend time with the destitute to be thankful for wealth. But how often are we truly thankful for what we have? Now, we may differ as to who or what we believe deserves thanks. But I think we can all find reasons to be thankful. Thankful for life, for breath, for friends, for family, for the simple pleasures, for the luxuries, for the beauty around us. I remember one time doing an exercise with a small group where I had them list their biggest complaint in the last week, and then think of why they should be thankful for the thing they were complaining about. Ie complaining about your workload vs being thankful that you have the opportunity to work or go to school. I think we can all do well to be a little more thankful. I know I can.