Every day, I wake up in my own bed, in my home, and come downstairs to a loving and happy family. Despite many luxuries, I often find myself wanting what others have. When news of the shootings in San Bernardino broke, I decided I needed to take the time to appreciate my own life more and to find out more about the world outside my experience.
The comforts of my own life can become a wall that blocks me from the rest of the world. Next to tragedies like the ISIS attacks in the Middle East, my heap of homework at a top notch school does not seem so unjust. When I hear about attacks by ISIS throughout the Middle East, of course, I have feelings of fear and sadness, but I do feel the distance between them and me, and I cannot help but feel disconnected and out of touch. I feel desensitized because of the distance and the security of my bubble that I live in. The event that really got to me were the shootings in San Bernardino. The news about the attack seemed surreal to me. Every time I watched stories on the news about ISIS attacks, massacres would be occurring across the globe, but just an hour away from me 14 people were killed by people affiliated with ISIS. I could connect so much more with this because it was so close to where I live. After these two events, I realised it is my responsibility to push myself outside my bubble and become more aware of the world I live in. It can be easy to go through life unaware when living in a town like Los Angeles where we are untouched by these crimes. But I am making it my goal to be learn about the world beyond my immediate life.

In the new year, after thinking about ways to live my life with a healthy mindset, I promised myself to take moments out of every week to reflect and appreciate my life and the people in it, to take time out of my week to appreciate my life and to be more aware of what is going on in the world.

Some days it becomes hard to execute this resolution. It is very easy for me to get caught up in the privilege and the need to want what others have. But whenever I find myself being wrapped up in the privilege, I try to take a step back and think of my resolution. I do find myself becoming more aware of the world around me. I have begun to watch the news and read the newspaper whenever I can. I know sometimes it will be hard to follow through with this resolution, but then I remind myself those are the days when it will be most important for me to do so.