Water and Whine

Ok, so has anyone else noticed how much we tend to whine about stuff? Is this a cultural thing? Is it just something we do here in the richest of nations, where we have nothing to actually whine about, or do people all over the globe do this? I can say that I have been to several developing nations and haven't heard the degree of whining that I hear, or am guilty of myself, here in the land of plenty. In fact, I can remember seeing a woman sweeping the dirt floor of her new 10'x20' house (not room)beaming with pride and thinking to myself, boy do I take things for granted.

Fast-forward to a few days ago. I was out for a run...um, jog. (I know, several things wrong with that statement, but play along). It was a longer jog than I was used to and toward the end I had some serious mental whining going on. This ache, that tired muscle, the fact that I ever agreed to take up running in the first place, etc. But the biggie was thirst. I was dying for some water. Wait...dying? That's a strong word. I mean, I was a mile from the finish--my home--which has several sources of clean, fresh, even cold and filtered water. I wasn't "dying", but boy was I whining in my head about how thirsty I was. We're talking oasis-in-the-desert fantasies in my head. Absurd, I know. But I was on a roll and really engaged in my little one-woman pity party, UNTIL....

I was jolted back to reality by a blog post I had just read the day before (YES! only the day before, which makes my whining even more absurd). It was written by a friend of mine about his 40th birthday wish. Check out what he's doing! http://mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=14608