Shifting Values for Teens: From “Everyone Has One (Device)” to “How Can I Help One (Person)”

This is a re-blog from my other site, Charity Ideas Blog.  

It’s hard.  Everyone has the latest phone, or TV, or tablet, or…?  Will having the latest and greatest device make you happy?  Perhaps. Or…

If you want another new iPhone, Galaxy x, MacBook, tablet, or whatever new device “everyone else has,” taking 1 minute to ask yourself these questions might just make you a better person.  And happier whether you upgrade, or not.

(If you answer more than 15 of these questions “Yes,” you probably do not need a new _____ (fill in the blank).)

1. Do you have water available for your family without walking more than a mile?
2. 
3. Do you have electricity?
4. Have you ever been to a doctor?
5. Have you ever been to a dentist?
6. Are you safe from dying from almost-eradicated diseases that kill children in countries without proper vaccines and treatments?
7. Do you have a toothbrush?
8. Do you have a toilet?
9. Do you know how to read?
10. 
11. Do you go to school?
12. Do you have a safe place to sleep, with a roof?
13. Do you have heat and/or fans or air conditioning or covering in extreme weather?
14. Do you know where your next meal will come from?
15. 
16. Do you have a parent/guardian/ loved one who takes care of you?
17. Can you do basic math?
18. Are you relatively sure you be alive a year from now?
19. Do you feel confident that terrorists will not storm your house, your village, or your town in the next year?
20. Do you feel safe going outside of your home?
21. Do you feel safe speaking your mind, or telling people what you think?
22. 
23. Do you feel you can share your ideas online?
24. Do you have friends/ people you care about, and who care about you?
25. Can you imagine doing almost anything you want in the future/doing any job you want in the future?
26. Are you free to tell people your opinions on religion or politics?
27. Can you be friends with anyone you want?
28. Can you love anyone you want?
29. Do you feel safe expressing any opinions about the government, including ideas that aren’t supporting the government?
30. Do you feel free?
31. 

Most importantly, do you feel grateful?

So many other places in the world do not have nearly (or any) the advantages available here, now.

We have the honor of being safe, healthy, wealthy, wise, and kind (to various extents). Let’s try to appreciate it.

And while we’re being grateful, let’s also make it a mission to share by volunteering, and pay it forward by helping people around the world who have less.

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” ~ Ronald Reagan

Any mentions of organizations within are due to my knowledge of them and appreciation of them only.  No organizations were involved or had knowledge of my mentions, although I do support the organizations mentioned, amongst many others.