Ringing in 2018 with Gratitude

It’s that time of year again. New Years resolution time. A time to set goals for self improvement for the coming year. Instead of setting goals, this year I am instead choosing to reflect on the past year and all that I have to be grateful for.

We left Asia on New Year’s Eve. We left Taipei at midnight and watched the fireworks as the plane taxied down the runaway. We arrived home in Calgary at 11:45 pm. Perfect timing to watch glimpses of the fireworks in downtown Calgary from our kitchen window.

Ending the year in Asia and starting a new year in Canada gave me much to be thankful for.

• Tap water that is safe to drink. Not a single country we visited in SE Asia had water safe for consumption. The water bottles we were forced to buy and toss and not recycle broke my heart. Especially after seeing so much plastic debris in the otherwise beautiful ocean off Thailand’s coast.
• A home with heat. Many of the homes in the rural villages in Vietnam and Cambodia lack heat. The residents also lack warm clothes. We were told that in Cambodia rural deaths begin at sub 12 degree centigrade temperatures. Even in our down jackets we had many cold nights in home-stays in Vietnam.
• A home with running water. In addition to lack of heat, many of the villages we passed had a central well where people would bathe and collect water. Many villagers simply bathed in the cool rivers.
• A home with electricity. In rural Cambodia, we drove through villages where power lines were just being installed.
• Access to basic healthcare and vaccines. We drove through villages in Laos where children had recently been infected with Polio. The Polio vaccine has been available since the 1950’s.
• A comfortable bed. Many of the villagers we met slept on thin mattresses on the floor, in hammocks or on cots.
• The ability to go for a walk without fear. There are still thousands of unexploded ordinances and landmines in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. These continue to kill and severely injure dozens of people a year.
• Access to dental care. When your daily life is about survival, dental health is not a priority. Children and adults throughout SE Asia have rotting teeth or few teeth, their mouths blackened by rot.
• Access to education. Every day we witnessed children working the agriculture fields, tending to younger children or doing absolutely nothing at all. Without school to attend, toys to play with or sporting equipment to amuse the children, their days seemed empty and totally joyless.
• Freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press.
• Equality. Freedom from cultural norms that force primarily women to work long and incredibly hard days to maintain societal expectations of monetary gifts. Vietnam has a complex social structure that requires families to attend all village events, weddings, funerals, etc and to pay a required sum of money as a “gift”.

I am thankful to have been born in a country of wealth and freedom. I am incredibly lucky to have a loving and kind family. I am lucky to have the basic necessities of life and my health.

I begin 2018 grateful for the experiences of 2017. Grateful for the incredibly kind and generous people we had the pleasure of meeting on our travels.

I wish everyone a year that is filled with gratitude, health and happiness!