During the recent hurricane, we lost power. What an inconvenience! We had a backup generator, so I was able to restore power to important things in the house like the refrigerator, a portable air conditioning unit and charging of our cell phones, but it was still quite an inconvenience.
When did blessings become inconveniences?
I began thinking about this question as I was starting to complain about how inconvenienced I was. Somehow, we’ve learned to take the blessings God has given us and turn them into expectations. To top it off, we’re quite inconvenienced when we don’t have them for any length of time.
Take electricity for example. In my lifetime, we’ve always had electricity in our home. It’s just a way of life for me. Electricity wasn’t even used in homes until 1882 and then it was only the elites who had it. It didn’t make its way into all homes until the 1930’s. What did people do without electricity before then? They used lanterns and candles and they talked to each other instead of jumping onto their iPads or watching tv. They didn’t see the lack of electricity as an inconvenience because they had no idea what life would be like if they had it. They felt blessed having a lantern to see at night and a fireplace to keep them warm. They had no air conditioning, yet they still survived. Can you believe that? No air conditioning?
When our power went out during the hurricane, we immediately grabbed two things: our flashlights and our cell phones. Were you aware that flashlights weren’t developed until 1899? They were called flashlights because the batteries weren’t capable of providing a steady current and the bulbs were inefficient, so they flickered on and off, hence the word “flash” light.
Speaking of cell phones, they didn’t become popular until 1983. Even then, they were bulky and inconvenient. Now we have a virtual computer in a phone that fits in our pocket. Before cell phones, you had to call each other on the telephone. Before telephones, you either waited until you saw the person, or you wrote them a letter. There were no such things as email or instant messaging.
Nowadays, if you live in an area that frequently loses power, chances are you’ll have a back-up generator because you don’t like dealing with the inconvenience. We have one. We also have high-quality flashlights and lanterns that run on efficient batteries and we keep a large quantity of back-up batteries on hand at all times.
During a power outage, we lose television. There’s nothing that makes us realize how dependent we are on television than losing power. Suddenly the house grows dark and quiet. It’s kind of depressing.
Have you ever caught yourself attempting to turn on a light when the power goes out? I’ve done it. Television goes out, the internet’s down and there’s nothing to do, so I think I’ll read a book and reach for the switch to turn on the reading lamp. We’re creatures of habit and quite spoiled. We’re so accustomed to that light working that we are somehow surprised when the light fails to come on when we flip the switch. What an inconvenience!
Did you realize that indoor plumbing didn’t come into vogue in houses until the 1930’s? Some affluent people had indoor plumbing way before that, but it wasn’t common in every household until the 1930’s.
Take a guess how many people in the world are living without electricity. The answer is about 770 million people or about 10% of the world’s population. Care to venture how many people in the world are living without indoor plumbing? Almost 2 billion people. Hard to imagine.
Last, but not least, is the internet. When power goes out, wifi and the internet goes down. Even if you have backup power by means of a generator, the internet still may not work. We have a 5G carrier for our internet, so as long as I provide power to the router and there is cell service available, we can still use the internet anywhere in our house. If you were connected via fiber optic or cable, you’d probably be out of luck. What an inconvenience!
Myasthenia Gravis is an inconvenience for me. It prevents me from doing some of the things I like to do. It makes me tired. It wears me out. It makes it difficult to breathe at times. It makes me hoarse. It makes me drool. Although it can cause a life-threatening situation during a myasthenic crisis, I’ve not experienced that yet. So for me, MG is an inconvenience.
I have two friends that are currently going through some very major health issues. Both could be life-threatening. That’s more than an inconvenience. I sometimes feel guilty talking about MG when there are people going through what my two friends are going through, but I really don’t need to feel guilty. I just need to make sure I put it in perspective. They have one major goal in front of them: survival. With Myasthenia Gravis, I have a few goals: stay fit, stay healthy for as long as I can, and try to help others in the process.
On a side note: My two friends need your prayers and I ask that you pray for them and their families during this very difficult time. Prayer is powerful and they can definitely use all the prayer and support they can get. Thanks in advance for doing that.
During the recent power outage, I started praying that power would soon be restored. While praying, it hit me. When was the last time I had thanked God for the blessing of electricity? I couldn’t remember if I ever had. This outage made me appreciate electricity. I guess prior to that, I had always taken it for granted. It’s a blessing along with all the other blessings God provides.
I made a pledge to myself. Instead of constantly looking at the inconveniences of life, I’m going to start looking at the blessings.
I’m alive. God loves and protects me. I have people that care about me. I’m mobile. I can still do nearly everything I used to do. My mind is active. And best of all, I get to share my journey with you with the hopes there is someone out there who finds comfort in reading my blog.
Life isn’t about the few things we are temporarily missing or don’t have. Life is about how blessed we really are. If you find yourself inconvenienced, remember how blessed you were to have ever had it at all.
I’m not saying MG is a blessing. It isn’t. You just need to be thankful it isn’t any worse.
It’s time to focus on life’s blessings.