We are the lucky ones. I have never ever had occasion to be hungry in my life. I have never known what it’s like to skip meals, unless I did it deliberately to lose weight, or follow a meditation retreat’s bylaws.
Have you ever known what it’s like to be hungry? I have never. Even when I was young, and my family had very little, one thing my parents always made sure was to feed us. Even if there wasn’t much meat, or sugar, there was always enough to eat, to fill our bellies. I never went to bed hungry. Even when my parents were angry with me, they never ever sent me to bed hungry.
It wasn’t the same for them, of course. They had known what it was like to feel intense gnawing hunger, where your stomach is eating itself from lack of food. They had had to skip meals, not because they were in time-out, or they were being punished, but because there just wasn’t enough food at home to feed the entire family.
My Parents Were Always Hungry
My mother and father both have stories of being so hungry, that all of their waking and sleeping thoughts were occupied with food. They would dream of food, day and night. They had young, growing bodies, and they needed more food than they were getting. Much, much more food than they were getting.
Not only did my mother had to contend with the lack of food, but she also had to deal with the fact that she was a girl in a family where she had five brothers. The brothers always ate first, and they always had the best parts of the meal first. The leftovers if there were any, were shared by the five sisters. There was always not enough, and she always went to bed hungry.
Food. Need food. More food.
I have never known hunger like that. My mother and father having known hunger, made sure that even if we didn’t have shoes (which we did), we always had food in our bellies. I was the roundest, fattest baby you ever saw. I mean, I was the epitome of fatness. It was because my mother, my skinny emaciated mother made sure that she fed me more food than ever, so I would never ever be hungry.
They Worked Hard So We Would Have Everything
It is the typical story you hear about everywhere. But just because it’s common, doesn’t mean it’s not important. They had a hunger for food when they were younger. That translated to ensuring that their children, their 3 kids, never ever suffered from wanting for anything.
It took them time to get to that point, but they are there right now. They have the cars, the houses, and the jewellery to prove that they have arrived. It took decades to get to that point, but they are there now.
They never have to worry about having enough to eat, or enough to wear, or enough for anything. They are set for life. They have everything. Touch wood, they have arrived.
They did this, not only for themselves, but for also to ensure that their children had everything. And I am a self-proclaimed lucky child. I have everything and I have always had everything. Everything important. I might not have had the latest toys, or the latest trips, but I had an awesome childhood, and a pretty awesome life till now.
Now It’s Time For Me To Do Something With This Luck
Why am I telling you this story? Does it matter if my parents had been hungry? All the time? Does it matter that we don’t know what that means?
It matters, because we are the luckiest people on this planet. Not only do we not have to deal with lack of food, clean drinking water, shelter, or terrorism, but we have the money, time, and energy to do whatever the hell we put our minds to.
Whatever we can imagine, we can build it. You want to start an arboretum, or an auditorium, you can do it! Whatever the hell you want, you can have.
Our parents worked freaking hard to get us to this point here, where we can do what we want with our times. In my opinion, most of us are wasting this opportunity that has been given to us. We are wasting it, and we don’t even know that we are wasting it.
Stop Wasting The Opportunities That Lie In Front Of You
This is how I see it.
My parents took a risk, a huge gamble, by moving us out of India. They didn’t know if that risk would have worked out.
They could have made a huge mistake and could have had to suffer the pangs of hunger again. But they knew they had to do it. They had to do it, because it was the only way to level up. The only way to level up is to take bloody risks, risks that might blow up in your freaking face.
We have to take the same risks as our parents, because not only do we not have to worry about hunger, or shelter, but we have the most amazing support system laid out by our parents. I think we are wasting our opportunities if we don’t take advantage of them right now!
Right now!
We could live the same lives as our parents and that’s totally fine. But we can also try and level up and take that further step, because we have nothing to lose! Nothing to lose, because we don’t have to worry about being hungry or homeless. Our family has built this awesome support system for us to do whatever we want.
We Will Never Have To Go Hungry, Ever
The reality is that if you are reading this article, you are probably living in the most luxurious of conditions in some developed country.
We are the lucky ones. We will never have to experience what it is like to feel that intense hunger. I mean, we might skip one or two meals here and there, because we are on a diet, or we were busy. But do you know what it means to never ever have enough to eat?
No, neither do I. I have always had more than enough to eat. More than freaking enough.
We are the lucky ones. We have the responsibility to our parents, to our ancestors, and to this world. We cannot sit around and wait for someone to discover us anymore. We have to make things happen, right now! Right now. This moment is the only moment we have.
Make shit happen. Level up. Take that bloody risk, and don’t worry if it blows up in your face.
