Thoughts on my greed

I had thought my apartment was nice. Until I went and visited my co-worker's apartment. His is around 3 years old and is beautiful. I didn't even look at his apartment complex when I was apartment-hunting because I wasn't willing to pay over $700/mth for something I would never own. But visiting his apartment made me realize that not everyone has leaky roofs that cause holes in their ceiling:


Or has windows that are broken and require a log to keep them open:

Or has carpet coming up that must be duct taped down:

And to be honest. I got a little envious. I don't have a new apartment or new furniture. Pretty much everything I own except for my stereo, some of my clothes and my mattress has been owned by someone else at some point. And if I look at it that way, I get kind of bummed. That's my greedy side coming out.

But, God quickly showed me a different perspective on life. I have 7 rooms that I share with only one other person. I have a fireplace that isn't used to cook food - it's just for decoration. In fact I have 3 pieces of equipment in my kitchen that I can cook food in. I live within a 5 minute drive of 5 major grocery stores that are filled with food. I live in a town that pays people money just to cut grass. I have a walk-in closet to hang the many outfits of clothes that I own. I have machines that will do almost everything for me. I think that for the majority of American's these things are standard.

To most of the world, that sounds extravagant. And in the grand scheme of things - it probably is. I didn't see abject poverty when I went to India, but I did see an area of India where the standard of living is much lower than even the poverty stricken families of the US. My life isn't about survival. It's about comfort.

Do I need a new apartment? No.

Do I want a new apartment? Sometimes. It is then that I need to remember that to the rest of the world, I really am wealthy. I need to stop whining and do something with the resources I am given.