You are lucky and you don't know it

BAD luck, hard luck, no luck - these are some of the descriptions attributed to a sorry situation involving human beings.
However, 99 out of 100 of us are actually darn lucky. Yes, many of us are not born rich. We don't have bodies that others will kill for. Our wives or husbands look like leftovers from the prison camp and we wish we have obedient children and staying in a mansion.
Look, you can have all that tonight when you close your eyes and go to sleep. But for now, look at the checklist. You are alive, that's a bonus. Go and visit the nearest cemetery. See the number of graves there. All dead people, right?
You are alive. That surely counts for something.
You may complain you are always in pain, suffering from one ailment or another. Good, I say. You feel pain. Do you know how many people are paralysed, not feeling anything at all? All these people want to feel something, anything. For a paralysed person to feel pain, it's joyful and will definitely bring tears to his eyes and family members.
Sometimes when I am a bit mean, I tell my friends who are constantly complaining about aches and pains, "well, painful? Good, feel it and be glad. Thou art alive. When you are dead, this will all be gone."
Sometimes, people make a big fuss about having not enough money, or none of it. Yes, it can be irritating not to be able to buy the things you want or to feed your family the right way.
Look at the whole situation from a different perspective. The bad financial situation may turn you into a man who will try anything (within the law, of course) to be financially secure. One reason is because you have nothing to lose.
When you have nothing or little to lose, you tend to be braver or do things which you normally won't do if you are financially sound. Your new found courage may just make you rich or it may make you slightly poorer than before but you have taken some risks. This means it is a small step in character building.
I don't mean to be a sour grape but rich people (some) can be quite insecure. Because they have a lot more to lose, they tend to mix with their own kind. They are sometimes afraid that poorer members of society will take advantage of them, or worse, borrow money from them.
What they are missing is that there are so many wonderful people out there from different social stations and different backgrounds. Mixing with these people can teach a person so much.
Then there is that universal fear among the very rich that their children will be kidnap victims, thus the children are constantly guarded or allowed only to visit "safe" places. Suddenly, you have become prisoners of your own wealth. How sad that is.
A lot of people also complain that they have no talents of any kind, like being a great athlete, a marvellous talk show host like Oprah Winfrey or a great actress like Meryl Streep.
Being ordinary is great. You don't get mobbed by the paparazzi. You can eat in any restaurant you want and not be bothered. You don't have to dress up like a princess whenever you go out and you don't have to get facelifts because others like you just the way you are.
Look at Mother Teresa. Do you think she's pretty? Mother Teresa is not known for her beauty. She's known for the great work she had done and the splendid legacy she left behind. If you read her biography, you will know that she came from a very ordinary family and led a very ordinary life.
Mother Teresa said: "Not all of us are born to do great things but all of us can do ordinary things with great love." What great words of wisdom.
If you own a motorcycle or a bicycle, don't complain. Just look at the traffic jams the next time you hit the streets. Do you think you can move any faster in a Rolls Royce or a stretch limousine?
Life is wonderful for everybody. All it takes is to look at your own life from the right perspective.