A colleague on an online Coursera course on Energy and Environment posted this and I want to share it with you.

“Growing up in the inner city and honestly not having very much caused some mental distress. My family really didn’t have much and as a kid I focused quite a bit on what we didn’t have. Which, let’s be honest, is very easy to do when others around you clearly have more. Some of the things that I now see as awesome, at the time were just horrible!!!
They include:

Riding the bus because we didn’t have a car
Hanging clothes on a clothes line to dry
Walking to the neighborhood store
Walking to school
Walking EVERY WHERE
Picking pecans from the backyard to sale

I’m sure there are a few other things I could mention as well. One of the major problems? Those things (in the States) that denote success and wealth are amongst the very things holding us back from progressing as a society. They include the big house (often many miles from work and activities), large SUV, huge energy sucking appliances, etc.

What I didn’t see as a child was how wonderful it was for all the women in my neighborhood to get together on Saturday mornings at the vegetable truck and get their fresh produce as they traded other goods from their own gardens. In my community in those days, there were no expensive gym memberships because it was a part of our lives…EVERYDAY.

As much as we’ve progressed, I miss those days of old when I thought I had nothing, but in reality, I was living a wonderful life”