As I look around Northview’s campus, I see people throwing their books aside in order to gently cradle their iPods, adoring their new phones, and holding on to the idea that what other people think of them actually matters. Although it may seem like common sense for students to share news about new gadgets and gossip once in a while, it has become quite absurd to see how reliant we have become to a routine that instills upon us the wrong things to value in life.

The Bible Club has ended the traditional Thirty-Hour Famine. The famine was not only a way to help children in other countries that die from starvation, but also a way to help cure teens of their “affluenza.” World Vision’s campaign against “affluenza” is an attempt to stop teens from unappreciating the things that they have. It’s easy to be grateful for the things that you have when being confronted by images of what others lack; however, always remembering that there is someone in the world suffering was the platform World Vision used to help keep the discontent in one’s life to a minimum.

In general, high school students tend to measure their statuses by comparing themselves to their peers. It is this kind of thinking that leads many people in all aspects of life to want more; furthermore, by placing the things we want as our priorities, we, in turn, turn them into necessities. The need to want more things is what afflicts people today.  Rather than adjusting one’s thoughts or perspective for a few moments, it is necessary for people to commit to a new set of ideals.

Having so many things in our life may add a sense of comfort, but can a person’s happiness be based solely on the transient things that they have? By engulfing their thoughts of what purchases should be made next, people are robbing themselves of the ability to choose what things ‘should’ take priority in their life.

We could all use a wake-up call to remind ourselves of the things we have and why we should appreciate them just a little more.