I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve heard that phrase…. “first world problems”. It was something we would throw around at each other in high school and college – Oh stop crying about your first world problems! But now, more than ever, I have to truly say that anything I find myself complaining about… is a first world problem.

I spent the majority of my younger years, from high school through my mid-thirties, working in various service industry jobs in addition to whatever “grown-up” job I had. I worked in hotels, restaurants, bars. Multiple cities and states. I don’t think I really NEEDED to, but I loved it. I loved every minute of it and I still do. Every time I found myself in between jobs, or just not really enjoying what I was doing, I would fall back on it because it came easily to me and the energy of the people around me was infectious. I would stand behind the bar and listen to various people talk about all their problems – their kids are annoying, their job sucks, their spouse is a pain in the butt… Bartenders are trained to listen and we have the gift of gab, so we can carry on a conversation about pretty much anything, with pretty much anyone!

Then I took a trip to Honduras. And Belize. And Brazil. And Egypt. I saw things I never really knew were true about the world. I saw the poverty, the lack of clean water, the scarcity of food. And somehow, through it all, most of the people I encountered were amazing. They smiled and embraced me. They wanted to share stories and music. There, in their homes made of cardboard and scraps of metal, they taught me so much about what’s really important in life. Ya know what? It’s definitely NOT my Tumi bag or my Gucci shoes…

So now I sit, thinking through this whole Coronavirus thing and how it has literally crippled almost the entire global economy. I see friends and former colleagues losing their jobs and potentially their homes. I see families struggling to put food on the table for their kids. I see elderly folks in my neighborhood struggling to get what they need to survive this pandemic, whether it’s groceries or toilet paper or medicine. I see small businesses desperately trying to stay afloat, but all their income streams have been completely shut down.  I see some of my own part-time staff struggling with the lack of hours or work available to them. And all the people who can’t get their unemployment processed. During my lifetime, I’ve only been laid off once. And when I did, I had a bartending gig by the end of the week and never missed a beat. But now that’s not even an option for people!

So I keep saying my prayers and thanking God for the fact that I DO still have my job when so many do not. I’m thankful that my CEO and his team found a way to protect us and help us work through it by everyone taking some cuts in pay and benefits, rather than all of us losing our jobs. I’m thankful for my leadership team at the Y who have silently and dutifully picked up the reigns to help with the relief childcare that we are offering to the children of first responders and medical staff, even though they are scared for their own health and the health of their families. I think that they, too, recognize how very fortunate we are to still be working.

So in a time of “first world problems”, I am going to focus not on my own needs or the needs of my household, but rather on those who truly need it. Because what some of us consider to be “needs” aren’t really needs. They are desires and wants. I don’t “NEED” half of the things in my house. Hell, probably more than half! I can live without getting my nails done for a few months, or without my latte from Starbucks. What I CAN’T do is stand still while those around me are struggling to meet basic needs. So I am going to do my best to donate food or supplies or time running errands for those who cannot. I want to be a beacon of light in this time of darkness. I want to show people that while some of us might’ve fared better than others in this storm, we are still in this together. Those with more should absolutely be reaching out to those with less.

When I returned home from Egypt, after seeing the chaos that is Cairo at rush hour, I swore I would never complain about traffic again. That was about 8 months ago and I’m still doing pretty well with it.  😉   After this “disruption”, as my boss affectionately calls it, my goal is to be more positive, more enlightened and more giving of myself to others. No more complaining because my coffee isn’t hot enough or my Jeep is dirty… Seriously? Get a hold of yourself, girl. To piggy back on my The Silver Lining Behind Covid-19 article, I’m going to use this time to do something good.

So when the world goes back to “normal”, I hope we all remember this and have some significantly improved attitudes and habits in our lives. I hope you will join me!

Blessings and love, -JB ❤