But seriously, there really are starving kids in Africa.

My sister and brother-in-law have just recently bought a home and moved. They did it over the holidays, while dealing with, among other things, a 10 day visit from me. Not the most relaxing time for them. Moving is stressful, I know. I moved across the country by myself to a strange city to go back to school after being out for 8 years. And yes, the school was only accessible by walking uphill both ways. On a fence. But as my property professor put it, I will probably be in the top 1% of the world as far as education and standard of living (if I can ever pass the bar).

Don't get me wrong here, I am not trying to belittle what my sister and brother in law are going through. I've never bought a house, so I really have no idea. If I continue to live in this state, perhaps I never will. At the moment real estate in Los Angeles County is somewhere around 4 million dollars a square foot. And that's in South Central.

I'm not posting this to show anyone up, or criticize. I was just going to suggest a movie I saw. But then I thought hey, the three people who read my blog should see this movie too! So I decided just to make a post out of it.

I fully admit to getting so into my own s&*$ that I lose all perspective. In fact, I only saw this movie because I had an interview the next day at the company who made it, and I wanted to be able to talk about at least one of their films. How self-absorbed is that? I hurriedly added the most recent one to my Netflix list in order to try to further my career. After I saw it, though, I really did want to talk about it. With everyone. Probably to a degree that made me shunned for several weeks by everyone who knew me.

I even went so far as to bring it to work and force it on a colleague. She was probably hating my guts at that moment. To her great credit, though, she took it home and watched it. And it wasn't lost on her. In fact, she blogged about it herself. I'm always teasing her, as you'll see from her account. Every time I'd hear her complain about something I'd walk past her desk and say "Oh yeah? Have you had to drink your own urine today? No? I'd say you're having a pretty good day then." Luckily for me she has a great sense of humor.

It's cliche to talk about people who have it worse than us. It's tough to put into a frame of reference that seems anywhere near relevant to our own lives. "I know there are starving kids in Africa, but I still have to deal with this crap!" It's the same way I used to react when my dad would tell me there were poor kids in other countries who would kill to have what I have. It's the same way I used to react when I still smoked and ex-smokers would tell me I should quit. It's probably the same way my still-smoking friends react when I, having quit, tell them to stop smoking (I'm that guy now). And I'm sure it's the same way I'd react if someone told me to see this movie.

But that's why I think everyone should see this movie. It goes beyond the unwanted wisdom of a know-it-all like myself. It goes beyond cliche. It makes it really personal. Yes, it's sad in many ways. But overall it's really uplifting to see the determination, perseverance, and most importantly the positivity and cheer with which these people face the horrific situations of their lives. I believe I could survive a lot, but I don't know that I could do it with the hope that these men and women possess. I'd like to think so.

That same property professor would often end class with a story about World War II. He's Jewish and most of these stories were about the holocaust. There was a collective eye rolling when he started. Some people actually got angry and left. They felt it wasn't his place to pontificate on such things. I guess they had a point, but he was just trying to give us some perspective. I was riveted (he was a good storyteller). So when you're thinking about all the crap you're going through, remember that you probably have things that the majority of the world will never have. Did you have to drink your own urine to stay alive today? Then hey, you're doin alright.