HOW DOES OUR LIFE COMPARE TO OTHERS?

I suppose the question of how my life compares with others could be answered in more than one way, depending on whether I am referring to my entire life, or my life right now.

I grew up with the influence of three cultures:  my Chilean father, my American mother and the Brazilian culture where I was born and raised.   I know alot of people don't get to experience that yet, on the other hand, alot of people do.   We moved alot and I attended many different schools; I know that many military families go through that also.

At present, I am a woman in my mid fifties going through a painful divorce, and so am a single mother of three teenagers of whom I have custody.    The past couple years have been very difficult in many ways, especially financially.   I don't live near any of my large family, they all live in other states, but I don't want to move at present because my teenagers will be juniors in high school next year and I know personally how difficult it would be for them to have to move at this time, so I will stay here for them for now.   I am close to my family and we stay in touch by phone and internet (e-mail, fb, etc. .)   We also do visit each other as much as we can.   I know that there are many, many other women in my same situation.

The great thing about living here in the U.S. is that, in spite of these circumstances, I can still look to the future with hope for a better tomorrow for myself and my children.  That is one reason I returned to college, to finish what I started but didn't finish 35 yrs ago.   And, if I'm able to continue, I will graduate from college around the same time they will graduate from high school!   I can get a job to help with the financial situation, but, by law, I'm also qualified to receive child support from my husband's wages.   Not sure that alot of divorced women in other countries have that resource available to them.   And, although I have not taken advantage of them, I know that if things got bad enough, there would be some government resources available to fall back on, at least temporarily.   Most countries don't have that.

We do have so much to be thankful for here in America.    To begin with, we live in a democracy where we, the people get to vote for our country's leader and who will represent us in the halls of Congress.   So many people don't stop to appreciate all the freedoms and opportunities available to us here in the United States.

I do believe its important to learn about other cultures because I think there are so many things we can learn from other cultures that could enhance our own life.   Also, learning about other cultures helps us to understand people from cultures different than ours, and helps us to understand their behavior, etc. . .  Personally, I don't think this class changed my worldview, but it did expand it and I learned a great deal about other cultures that I was not aware of.  

Of the 10 things I understand about child development globally:

1.  I understand that culture and religion play a major role in parenting roles and how children are brought
     up.
2.  I understand most parents view their children as a precious gift and love them unconditionally and desire
     for them to have a better future than their own.
3. I understand all children have a need to feel loved and safe
4.  I understand most children are adventurous and love to learn
5.  I understand millions of children live in poverty
6.  I understand many, many children go to bed hungry
7.  I understand many children begin working at a young age to help support their family
8.  I understand many children are sexually and physically abused
9.  I understand millions of children lack proper housing, education or health care
10. I understand there are millions of orphans around the world whose future looks very bleak, as in Russia