Wednesday's Wisdom....

     "It's ironic that we forget so often how wonderful life really is.  We have more time than ever before to remember it.  The men and women of generations past had to work long, long hours to support lots and lots of children in tiny, tiny houses.  The women worked in factories and sweatshops and then at home too, with two bosses, the one who paid them, and the one they were married to, who didn't.
     There are new generations of immigrants now, who work just as hard, but those of us who are second and third and fourth generation are surrounded by nice cars, family rooms, patios, pools-the things our grandparents thought only rich people had.  Yet somehow, instead of rejoicing, we've found the glass half empty.  Our jobs take too much out of us and don't pay enough.  We're expected to pick the kids up at preschool and run the microwave at home.
     C'mon, let's be honest.  We have an embarrassment of riches.  Life is good."

excerpted from A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen

I reread this book the other night and the passage above jumped out at me.

So true.  So very true.

There seem to be numerous articles lately, such as the one in the New York Times today, titled "Stressed, Tired, Rushed: A Portrait of the Modern Family"- stating it's just so difficult to "balance it all" - that there isn't enough "quality time"; stories of parents and students claiming that homework causes too much frustration and should be banned; young mothers posting photos of themselves on Facebook, with their afternoon glasses of wine - saying it's the only way they can cope with their small children.

Whoa.

I feel extremely grateful to be living in the United States, in the twenty first century.

Grateful for simple things - like indoor plumbing, when I'm up during the night. Seriously. 

When I think of what women had to cope with, back in the days of "Little House on the Prairie" or the women today, who live in countries like Afghanistan.

Anna Quindlen is right.  Life IS good. 

Knowing and acknowledging that, for me, is good too.