Running Water
Today I am grateful for hugs from my son Sam. I am also grateful for the conveniences of life that I get to enjoy; like clean, running water.
We recently had the faucet in our shower replaced. The other one had corroded and eventually broke. When I stopped to count, we have five various faucets in our house that we use regularly, numerous pipes bringing water to and fro, outdoor spigots in the front and back of our house, and more.
Like electricity, running water is something I really appreciate but really take for granted on most days.
Growing up, we had one bathroom and just a tub until I was nearly a teen. I'm one of the youngest in the family, so that means a lot of years with a lot of people in a house and not a lot of bathrooms to go around. We managed. We survived. We have stories to tell.
Today we are spoiled. How convenient. How easy to turn on a faucet and get water. I get impatient when it takes a bit for the water to get to the temperature I want. Really?
What about the large number of people on the planet that don't have access to safe and clean drinking water? I saw estimates ranging from 750 million to over a billion people. And well over a third of the world's population doesn't have access to sanitation facilities. In some locales, people spend an inordinate amount of their day getting water they need. That task often falls to women and children who may be putting themselves in harm's way for that water.
Spoiled indeed. The next time I turn a faucet on, I will be grateful for the gift of clean and convenient water. I will try not to take it for granted or waste it. What other obvious gifts can I pause to appreciate today?
We recently had the faucet in our shower replaced. The other one had corroded and eventually broke. When I stopped to count, we have five various faucets in our house that we use regularly, numerous pipes bringing water to and fro, outdoor spigots in the front and back of our house, and more.
Like electricity, running water is something I really appreciate but really take for granted on most days.
Growing up, we had one bathroom and just a tub until I was nearly a teen. I'm one of the youngest in the family, so that means a lot of years with a lot of people in a house and not a lot of bathrooms to go around. We managed. We survived. We have stories to tell.
Today we are spoiled. How convenient. How easy to turn on a faucet and get water. I get impatient when it takes a bit for the water to get to the temperature I want. Really?
What about the large number of people on the planet that don't have access to safe and clean drinking water? I saw estimates ranging from 750 million to over a billion people. And well over a third of the world's population doesn't have access to sanitation facilities. In some locales, people spend an inordinate amount of their day getting water they need. That task often falls to women and children who may be putting themselves in harm's way for that water.
Spoiled indeed. The next time I turn a faucet on, I will be grateful for the gift of clean and convenient water. I will try not to take it for granted or waste it. What other obvious gifts can I pause to appreciate today?
It’s really sad to think that while most people really are pampered when it comes to having clean drinking water and running water for baths etc., others find it hard find it very hard to even attain clean water for drinking alone. I hope a lot of people could read this and learn to appreciate things that usually come easy, and are easy to take advantage of. Thanks for sharing this realization, Lisa. All the best!
ReplyDeleteAugustin Pavel @ AXEON Water Technologies
Thanks for your comment Augustin. Being grateful adds value to that which we are grateful for, making us more likely to take better care of it. Clean water certainly falls in that category. I just need to remind myself of it regularly.
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