First World Problems

Lately, I have been getting extremely frustrated with my slow internet connection. While I would way rather be out in the field, the truth is most days I am sitting in the office on my computer perusing the internet... for articles on my capstone project, for background research on the reports I am working on for Navsarjan, on blogs (my own included), pinterest, facebook or just trying to stay connected to my friends and the world back home.

For whatever reason my email is particularly difficult and doesn't seem to like the internet connection I have. I actually spent four hours the other day trying to get my email to load so I could send Manjula (my boss) an email about what I had been working on....Needless to say I was super frustrated. 

 Though I am still loving India...I have been here long enough now that the feel good new glow is starting to wear off and I have started to truly experience and feel how different things work here. 

I am not sure who came up with the tag line "first world problems" but by now we have pretty much all heard it. They are problems that only frustrate people in the first world, the developed world, like a slow internet connection. The is a perfect first world problem because the fact not only do most people in third world's not have internet, turns out a lot of them have never seen a laptop either.  

(The girls from the village were shocked and confused to see me caring my computer... Sushma had to explain to them what it was) 

Internet may seem like a necessity in the U.S. but most places its a luxury, and I am starting to learn how spoiled/blessed I really am to have these luxuries. While I am complaining about how slow my internet is most of the other staff members have to share their internet flash drives, and turns out I even have the fastest model out of all of my coworkers. 

Taking a moment just to look at this personal frustration, and think about it within the context I am in, And from anyone else's position who I am currently living with...I have begun to realize that I really need to learn to let go of U.S. standards of perfection and immediate gratification, and start begin grateful for the fact that I even have internet. 

I truly am spoiled/incredibly blessed to have all that I have.

And the next time I begin to get made about my internet being slow I need to think about the bigger picture

...and use the time I am given to meditate, or go play with the girls, things will happen in their own time if you really want them to.

We expect to much from everything and everyone, but most of all ourselves...I am not saying having high expectations is a bad thing...as a girl who expect a lot for herself, I feel as though having expectations pushes me to do better...but honestly balance is better.
When we expect perfection then we will always be faced with disappointment, But when we can find gratitude instead we can be filled with contentment and satisfaction.

So Today's Lesson Is:
 letting go of my "first world problems"for a health dose of gratitude thus finding inner peace and contentment.