This morning, NPR did a story on the current state of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. I have found, in the last several weeks, it is important to remember relativity when worrying about life... no matter what we may think our troubles are at the moment, there is always someone in greater need who requires even more compassion.
I have been out of the news loop for a bit since our morning routine has shifted slightly, so it had been a while since I had heard an update on Zimbabwe. Today I learned it is struggling with an inflation rate of 231M% (that's 231 million percent); staples and common goods are unaffordable, and the unemployment rate continues to hover around 80%.
This means even greater numbers of people will require assistance of some kind in the coming months. Food, shelter, basic necessities required for mere survival. Talks are not going well thus far; humanitarian aid and strategies for helping Zimbabwe's citizens are being considered by multiple nations. Meanwhile, nearly every nation is weathering its own financial crisis and attempting to prevent some kind of economic collapse.
It's incredibly sobering to stop in the middle of feeling anxious about our own decisions with regard to daycare, moving, careers, etc. - and to remember how blessed we are to have such dilemmas to face. We need not worry about basic survival; we are healthy; we have insurance; we own a home; we have money saved. Whatever our concerns may be this week, they pale in comparison to the life and death struggles faced by so many people in multiple areas across the world.
The theme of perspective and its impact upon the quality of our lives has been at the forefront of my mind lately. I think that, if there is any power we hold in shaping our futures and realities, it is in the way we view and make meaning of our days. We may shape our destinies in the way we understand and articulate our own story - triumph or tragedy... it is all in the choices we make, the lives we lead, and the way we tell our tales.
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