Ungrateful Mistakes

By Tanya Soto

Stop. Take a moment and look around. We’re fully clothed, we have food in our stomachs, and we’re here…alive. It’s not until something dramatic happens in our life, that we realize the things we take for granted. Whether it’s our health, the people around us, or new opportunities we’re presented. Often times, we are too focused on the things we desire and don’t acknowledge what we have.

Nowadays, it’s extremely common to take people for granted. We are assured that a person will not leave regardless of our lack of effort or attention we give them. In a friendship, we only think about our needs and our problems that we often forget to recognize that others have too. In a relationship, slowly by slowly our amusement and efforts dissolve, and can lead to the person that we care about leaving. With family members, we think that since they’re family they’re bound to be with us, but in reality, disregarding any label or title, no one is tied to us. In general, we get too comfortable in thinking that once we have someone by our side they won’t leave, but that’s not true. Life comes with so many unexpected circumstances. Death comes unexpectedly. On a daily basis, accidents happen. So before it’s too late, we should reconsider our lives and become aware of the people that have been by our sides; to let them know that they do matter.

Materialistically, we always want more and more, never thinking that anything is enough. We have perfectly nice clothes hanging in our closet, yet we feel the need to buy more clothes that aren’t exactly necessary. We have a phone in our hand that’s in flawless condition, but it’s not the newest iPhone model. We have a roof over our heads, but it’s not the fanciest place we could live in. If something isn’t up to date or simply not trendy anymore we could not care less about it. We’re focused on the things that we don’t have, and forget about the things that we do. Unfortunately, others aren’t as lucky to have the things we have. While we deny the things we don’t want anymore, someone is longing to have them.

One of our Junior Tillers was kind enough to open up and speak about gratefulness. Although Joshua Hernandez is currently living here in California, throughout his childhood he was raised in Mexico by his grandparents. “Now that I’m older, I realized I took my grandpa and everyone in Mexico that raised me for granted. I’ve come to notice everything they did for me and not once have I told them how much I appreciate what they have taught me.” Joshua is not alone, many of us often make the mistake of never showing our loved ones our appreciation.

So here it is… life’s short. We should acknowledge what we have. If we really care about someone and don’t show it often, we should feel encouraged to try and give more effort so that person knows what we truly feel. Before we decide that we need something new, we should really think about if we need it or not. We should keep in mind that others are not as fortunate to have what we have. Before it’s too late, we should be grateful for everything that comes and goes.

 

“Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had.” – Unknown

One Comment Add yours

  1. Yaire Alfaro says:

    Love this article so much.
    Fantastic Job!!!!

Leave a Reply to Yaire Alfaro Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *