OK when I say “back by popular demand,” that demand means Chance (as she commented on my last post) and my mother.  

So without further ado, here is…

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why 

Switching lives.  Can’t say I’d want to do it for the rest of my life, but one day?  Okay, that sounds good.

Now as to who….

At first I was thinking someone with a hott husband, like Angelina Jolie.  I could have Brad Pitt….. but i would also have a million babies and a lot of baggage.  So no.

Then I thought about someone who is a super celebrity, like Paris Hilton.  But no one likes her.  So no.

So is there a celebrity that (most) everyone likes?    I think it would be Oprah Winfrey.  Okay so not everyone likes her.  But she is powerful, rich, and respected (for the most part).  

But then I realized that I was looking at this all wrong.  What would one day in luxury give me?  Nothing.  I would return to my normal life still full of unmet desires.

I am thankful for the life I have.  I am very very very VERY lucky.  I wouldn’t want to switch lives with anyone.  

But what about one day as someone less fortunate?  

When I think of the “poor of the poor,”  I get two images.

The first one is this:  

a la “Slumdog Millionaire,” I think of dirty children in the streets of India.

The second image is something like this:

OK, laugh or cringe at the joke, the faces of starving African children are synonymous with “poor.”

What if I could trade them lives for one day?  Maybe that one day, even just for one day, a starving child could eat a good, healthy meal, maybe see a doctor, enjoy a comfortable bed, and have uninfected water to drink.  

Do you think they would want to?  Or do you think that it would make returning to their normal life that much harder.   You can’t miss what you don’t have.  

And for me?  It would be the most humbling experience…. to feel a growling tummy. To feel the fatigue and sickness. To drink the filthy water or eat bacteria-ridden foods.  To shiver at night on the mud floor.

While this wouldn’t necessarily be charity, I know I would gain a lot from the experience.   So this seemingly “charitable” thing, would in fact, be selfish.  

I think I’ll just stick to my life for now.