Reflections of a deployed Soldier – Things We Take For Granted

I stumbled upon some old writings today, and this one caught my eye. I had originally written this when I was deployed to Bosnia and revised it while I was in Iraq. I’m sure there’s a lot that could be added to this list. What would you add?

Things We Take For Granted

What a blessing it is to be born American, in the modern age, no less. With all of our troubles and worries, never have a people had so much to be grateful for, or taken so much for granted.

Things simple:

  • water pressure
  • toilet paper
  • privacy
  • heat
  • warm food
  • hot water
  • not knowing the smell of stench
  • not having to breath burning garbage every day
  • good dentistry
  • the familiarity of your home town
  • variety of cuisine

And things profound:

  • that our children will grow up
  • that our neighbors will not be waiting to kill us
  • the sacrifice of the Soldier
  • the love of a mother
  • the bond of a comrade
  • not being stuck in the class to which you were born
  • not having to deal with the arrogance of the aristocracy
  • not fearing the day foreign troops arrive
  • not fearing the day foreign troops leave
  • being able to visit your home town
  • that our religion does not define who we are, who we can marry, and who we can be friends with
  • that our race does not define who we are, who we can marry, and who we can be friends with
  • the ability to speak your mind
  • the ability to be different without persecution
  • to have a variety of media that are not the mouthpiece of the government
  • to live in a society where most people genuinely try to be professional
  • that the media, while messed up, won’t purposefully and blatantly lie

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