As if by the beating of my heart

Of late, I've been thinking that I take a lot of things for granted. I take for granted the fact that clean water flows out of the tap at home when I care to turn it on. I take for granted the food that I eat, the air that I breathe. Though I try not to use it, I have control over my immediate climate because we have these wonderfully powerful heaters and air-conditioners. In short, I take for granted all the elemental things in life. This is not to say that I don't appreciate what I have and enjoy, it is just that sometimes, I live by it unaware, "as if by the beating of my heart."

And that is perhaps why any action - by society at large and by policy makers - towards curbing global warming is going to be so hard. We know how lucky we are, but yet, we live by it unaware. We appreciate it, yet we don't cherish it. I've been so lucky. But how much longer will this luck last? How long before I experience what most citizens of planet earth experience, namely the necessity to fight for daily survival?

This worries me because I would like Zoe to enjoy all that I've enjoyed. And because I would like all the children in this world to enjoy what I've enjoyed too. And it appears that the chances are slimmer by the day. Would we know to make the right choices individually and collectively?

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I remember the time, on a trip to Nepal, because I assumed water to be always free of muck, all my lovely Marks and Spencer undies were tainted a dirty yellow color the first time I hand washed them there. Then, after getting used to showering in yellow water, how I was surprised by the gleaning clean water that flowed out of the tap when I got home to Singapore.

I remember running out of water on a hike and the thirst I felt in the last, few hot desert miles.

I remember how people of my mom's generation were still so thrifty with their water use, even after it was no longer necessary. The "aunties," because they lived through having to line up to get their daily rationed bucket of water in town (for the whole family), would shower using just a bucket of water. They poured the water onto themselves with the help of a ladle.

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