21 Sickening Statistics: The Only Motivation You’ll Need
Glen / 
42 Comments / 
March 4th, 2009 / 
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There’s no doubt that we are the generation that takes everything for granted. We’re the group that expects everything on our plates with a dash of instant results on the side. We “have the worst day of our lives” when a plane is delayed for 20 minutes or there’s a bit of turbulence. The unbearable five hours a trip takes compared to the weeks it would have taken only 50 years ago.
I think that we’ve become so fortunate that we’ve forgot to take things into perspective, so fortunate that we’ve forgot our values and so wrapped up in the lives of celebs that we’ve forgot what goes on around the other side of this planet.
Moaning about our phones and plane flights? OK, so if you do this it’s not the end of the world; on one side it’s expected because results are something we’ve gotten used to with the advances in technology. However, in addition to this dysfunction, other things have joined the noise…
- We’ve become so obsessed with what other people think of us
- We’ve halted our childhood dreams due to lack of self esteem
- We’ve had the worst days of our lives because [insert something irrelevant here]
Now I think it’s time to zoom out a little bit, to see what life really is about. To see the kind of information that led me to write posts like this one and especially this one. Please don’t just read the following, say “mmm” and “ahh” and get on with your day.
Actually take these figures in, think about them. Imagine yourself possibly being in the same situation or your brother, sister, wife, husband, or cousin being in the situation billions of unfortunate humans find themselves waking up to.
21 Sickening Statistics
Sometimes we need to see the bigger picture…
Life
- More than 2.8 billion people live on less than the equivalent of $2 per day
- More than 1.2 billion people live on less than the equivalent of $1 per day
- Nearly 1 billion people are illiterate (they can’t read or write)
- More than 1 billion people don’t have access to safe water
- 1/3 of all the world’s children under 5 suffer from malnutrition
Death
- Every 3.6 seconds somebody starves to death
- - 3/4 of those who die are under the age of 5
- 32,637 people committed suicide in the USA in 2005
- - 25,907 of which were male
- – 6,730 of which were female
- Over 15,000 people are murdered each year in the USA alone
Homeless
- Over 100,000,000 people around the world are homeless
- 750,000 people in the USA in 2005 were homeless
- – 41% of these were families
- 3,500,000 people in the USA in 2007 were homeless
- – 1,370,000 of which are under 18
Life Expectancy
- Swaziland – 32.0 years
- Angola – 37.9 years
- Zambia – 38.5 years
- Zimbabwe – 39.7 years
Number 21
All of these are as equally moving as each other, but I must say that this one really saddened me: The assets of the world’s 3 richest men exceed the combined GDP of the world’s 48 poorest countries.
Even if I did have enough money to be one of the richest people on the planet, I wouldn’t be. When people are suffering around the world like this, how can you just sit there with your billions collecting interest? What is really so important that your money can get you over helping billions of people who are suffering?
I have huge respect for the likes of Bill Gates who has literally donated billions of dollars to set-up charitable foundations and help those in need; I just wish all the others would follow suit.
Why Share This?
My reasoning for posting those statistics is simple: we get so caught up in the small details of life we miss out on the reality around us. The next time you want to moan about a delayed flight, shout at your child for doing something small or cursing the world because rain cancelled your baseball game, think twice.
Before I started this blog I spent time caring what people thought of me, looked to find myself in the reactions of others and didn’t appreciate what I have in life. Even yesterday I got an email from someone called Billy saying I’m an idiot for posting pictures of myself on my blog because I look like a “mugging crap” (whatever that is). In the past I would have stopped blogging because of that and took my photo down, but now? Life’s too short.
Go for what you want and don’t look back. Be grateful for what you have, and make sure that everyone who matters to you knows about it. I’m 19 years old; I’m not sure how familiar you are with that age group but I look like an “idiot” to most of my (old) friends writing things like this. That’s fine, and it will be fine for you to do the things you want to do as well if you don’t look to find happiness or acceptance in others.
You are Enough. Work out what you love. Go for it. Don’t let anything get in your way. Enjoy the journey.
Do that and you’ll unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. If any of my 60+ posts so far have helped you in any way then I only ask one thing – that you help as many people as possible on your journey as well.
If you enjoyed this post, I would appreciate if you share it on Twitter, Facebook or Delicious!
A very timely reminder!
We all need to appreciate what we “have” and realized how blessed we are to be where we are today.
Bill gates is indeed a great example. On this site you can find out where they spend the money on: http://www.gatesfoundation.org
Thanks for including that link Marteen
Glen,
I strongly support this question along with you.
“When people are suffering around the world like this, how can you just sit there with your billions collecting interest?”
It’s a great example of how low our social consciousness is right now and we need to change that. It’s simply shameless and inhumane.
What happened to our ability to be kind and sharing?
So true Sunny, thanks for your comment
…give other permission to do the same (be enough, do what they love, be what they want to be)!! My favourite saying, thanks Glen!
You’re welcome Candice, can’t wait to see your new website when you get around to setting it up
Remember to MSN me if you need any help!
Thanks for this post!
It came at a perfect time. I was feeling really blue last night that I couldn’t afford a flight to Europe after paying my >$300 car payment.
This blog post really puts things into perspective and reminds me that I have WAY more than most people around the world.
Thanks.
XoX
Carla
That is an excellent and very honest example Carla, thanks for sharing. For every situation there can be billions of perspectives, you just have to choose yours
Thanks Glen for bringing thoughts of gratitude today. Being grateful changes our entire perspective.
Helping someone less fortunate can be the most important thing we do at any given moment. “The kingdom of God is within you” Luke 17:21 That is how we release it into the world, by praying, assisting,taking a jar of peanut butter to the food bank, doing what we can for others. (With joy)
I heard something interesting recently which went along the lines of ‘The more you appreciate something, the more you give it value. Just like when your house appreciates, it grows in value’
I love that, and thanks for your comment!
I’m SO with you on the issue of personal wealth. I have never understood how a handful of people can hold most of the world’s wealth… and live with themselves. Maybe it is because I am NOT in that handful, but it seems to me a bit excessive.
Once you have made more money than you or your children’s children can spend in a lifetime, you’ve paid off the debts of everyone you know, you’ve done a little crazy spending just because you can… then what? Why does all that money sit in accounts collecting interest (or losing value) when people are starving, dying preventable deaths, suffering because of lack of healthcare, and otherwise struggling in extreme poverty?
I guess I’m a bit of a Bohemian… socialist… whatever. I just care. If I were the richest person in the world, my life wouldn’t look very different; but a LOT of others would.
Oh, and I thought your pictures were great, btw.
You write: “When people are suffering around the world like this, how can you just sit there with your billions collecting interest? What is really so important that your money can get you over helping billions of people who are suffering?”
Yeah, I don’t get this either. I really don’t.
And regarding life being too short, all too true. Life is too darn short to care what others think about us. Absolutely.
By the way… You’re being rather consistent with posting now. Well, getting a tad more challenging to keep up… but… whatever works for you!
Cheers, Bamboo
Hey Bamboo, still only 3 posts per week as usual!
Well said Glen.
What is sad is that many of the problems highlighted such as starvation are so easy to solve – in this technological age we should be able to grow food anywhere!
In perspective, and as you have pointed out, many rich people do wonderful things with their money and often leave huge legacies to very worthy causes.
It can bring you back down to earth to take a walk around a graveyard and ponder not only the ages of the deceased; consider too where their problems are now and how many struggles they faced whilst alive.
I wonder what they would say if you could ask them now “If you had your life again would you spend so much time worrying?”
The only opinions that truly matter are those of the ones you care about – as you said, life is too short.
Keep writing….you are helping many people both now and in the future.
I definitely agree that the suffering of others is a reason for accepting oneself. You realize that there’s much, MUCH bigger fish to fry than the sexism you encounter or people’s inability to understand what you do with your time, or their judging you for having a funny face, graceless gait, and not being the sort of conversationalist they want to hang out with.
I’m glad you included statistics on suicide within the US as well as poverty and death around the world. For me, how much people enjoy their lives is important, and there’s something very wrong when people with a relatively high degree of material wealth kill themselves, not to mention the homelessness here.
I think something people fail to realize is that we are ALL the rich man–there is always someone who would have their life completely transformed by what we have and can give, and we should. ^_^
*living and loving life since October 2008 in the name of someone who didn’t make it out of her depression and anxiety alive*
I am sure to get naughty comments if you post this article really 50 years ago lol.
Hi Glen,
I look forward to your blog posts. I agree with everything you had to say here. And I am amazed at how wise you are at the young age of 19! Keep doing what you’re doing.
BTW: I’ve read that it’s a good thing to have a picture of yourself because that makes your blog and/or web site more personal.
Take care,
Lisa
Hi Glen,
I don’t know what happened but I had to re-enter my comment.
I am amazed at how wise you are at a young age of 19. I look forward to every new blog post. Keep doing what you’re doing. And keep the picture. I’ve read in more places that a photo of yourself makes your blog and/or web site more personal.
I also agree with everything you said in the this post. I love football but I thinks it’s crazy how much they get paid.
Take care, Lisa
Hey Lisa, first comments need to be approved before they can go live (thanks a lot for leaving one!)
I’m glad you like the blog, I appreciate you saying so. I’m definitely not taking the picture down, at least not until I get a better one
Glen,
Unfortunately most of us don’t appreciate what we already have.
It doesn’t mean that we don have to want more and to desire more.
That is the number one reason people don’t get what they want because when you complain you coming from the position of luck and therefore can’t get more.
You only 19, Nice. That is amazing what you will accomplish when you 25-30 if you keep growing.
Great post to remind to focus on what we have and what’s important
I experience this “moaning” every day on the way to work. I commute two hours each way which gives people enough stress as it is- but if the train breaks down, forget it. People are cursing, saying everyone is incompetent and how “unacceptable” it is that it could possibly happen. I usually want to smack them on the head and say, “What’s unacceptable is that you are lucky to be able to afford food let alone a train ride or have a steady job when so many people don’t have any of those things, and you are STILL complaining!” People are so jaded by the small worlds they live in.
To be aware of the fact that most things just aren’t that important to our well being is the first step in making the world a more pleasant place to live. Every single one of your words is true!
PS- your 19 year old “friends” won’t be laughing when you are bringing in the cash and they are living in their parents basements at the age of 35 now will they?! You are admirable and I’m glad you don’t let that nonsense get to you
Glen, we often complain about this and that. Your article has reminded us that there are still people out there who may not be as lucky as we are and they need our help.
And about your age, I am amazed that you are still 19 years old but you have already able to write a blog about motivation.
Thanks for sharing, Glen.
Thanks Arswino, I actually started building websites when I was 15 and started learning everything from there. It’s only in the last year or so though that I’ve managed to remain consistent and focused on certain projects so I decided to start this site.
You’re very welcome, thanks for your comment!
Hear, hear, this is good stuff, keep it up.
I don’t think that we should be motivated by comparing what we have to those who have less in life. It’s sad that we still have to look at other people’s misfortunes in order to feel a sense of relief. I guess it is just normal to feel angry or irritated when something in our lives doesn’t go as planned or the way we wanted them to turn out, even if its something as trivial as a delayed flight. We all have our reasons for feeling and reacting the way we do, plus there’s the fact that there are those who can be mean and just plain self centered. The key note here is to not lose our focus on the things that really matter, being grounded and keeping our values intact despite being in an ever changing society. Focus on the positives in our own lives instead of having to look at others’ negatives to feel better.
More power to your blog Glen!
You are seeing this from a different perspective than that from which it was written, Aye. Near the end I stated:
This isn’t about thriving on the misfortune of others, this is about putting live into perspective. All positives have a negative opposite (polarity) so I don’t even think focusing on those are a good idea.
If you really think that is the message I’ve put across here then I would like you to read it again (looking at negatives to feel better). This is about looking at reality to realise our own problems pale in comparison, yet we can think they are so huge and life-threatening.
Besides all that, I appreciate your comment!
I may have misunderstood the message that you are trying to get across here. the title and the statistics didn’t help either.. hehehe.. im just not a fan of looking at the negatives in life may it be my own or of others because i have recently become an advocate of “energy flows where attention goes”. although i know negatives exist and they’re happening around me, i just choose to look at the positive side of things. i hear you man! its all good! i guess i just happened to become strictly positive since i’ve been reaping its benefits. teeheee
thanks and all the best glen! 
keep the posts coming!
No love lost Ays! Thanks for stopping by
Warren Buffet who was the worlds richest man as of a few months ago pledged most of his fortune to the Bill Gates foundation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/26buffett.html
Two of the three richest people in the world donated almost 100 billion dollars.
At the beginning of 2008 the two richest men were Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Bill Gates as everyone knows has the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which they plan on giving away thier money. Bill Gates has always said that he planned on doing that in the end. It is not an easy task and it takes a person working full time to do it.
What people don’t know is that Warren Buffett gave 30 Billion ($30,000,000,000) to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation because he wanted someone to give it away that he trusted and that he knew would do a good job.
I was just reading Warren Buffett’s latest book Snowball and he said in there that when he was at $850 million people began asking him why he was not giving more away. His answer was that he could grow that $850 million into more money and be able to give it away. Well that $850 million turned into $30 billion to give away.
I have the same feeling as you do sometimes, why can’t they give it all away, and why does someone need that much money. On the other hand we have to realize that someone with that much money clearly thinks differently than the rest of us. Sometimes there is more motivation than we realize.
Good article, great statistics.
Hi I just wanted to let you know that I found you through a link on Daily Blog Tips and I’m so glad I did. I can’t believe (according to comments here) that you are only 19 years old… such wisdom! You definitely must be an old soul.
(that is, if there are such things, which I believe there are!)
If you should ever be interested in doing some guest posting (which I would love to pay you for but am not currently in the space to do so) We have another blog at http://www.sharing-circle.com which your personal identity meme fits with perfectly. Would love to have you! (I realize you’re probably too busy but I couldn’t help but mention it…)
Anyway, I’ll be watching you. Thanks for what you do. You are adding more value to the world than you can imagine.
I’m also following you on twitter. (geez, I sound like a stalker.)
I can only say wow. Thanks for sharing this.
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I constantly try to remind myself of these things when I think about it, but I think I’ll print this off and post it on my door and my work locker…just so it’ll be there and I can “tell them to myself” to hopefully help with negative feelings and lack of motivation.
Thanks again!
You’re welcome Celeste, thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting!
If you really are 19, my compliments, i needed much more years to arrive more or less at the same conclusions.
Yes, I am. Thank you Felice!
did you know, that 82% of statistics are made up on the spot? and dont you think it’s kind of demeaning to consider someone a statistic? the more numbers you add to a horrific event, the less people feel emotionally attached… someone will react more strongly to hearing about single little girl brutally raped and murdered, than they would if you told them 12 BILLION people are dieing slow and excruciating deaths….
Why do you have such respect for Bill Gates? Giving away a billion dollars when you have 40 is not an effort, hell, donating 39 billion when you have 40 still leaves you with more money than you will ever have the time to spend. If he _really_ cared, why wouldn’t he give it all away? I have much more respect for someone who has a thousand dollars and donates a hundred, than someone who has a million and donates a thousand. Of course, it’s a good thing that he gives something rather than nothing.
The example you have given is no different to what you are saying Bill Gates is doing.
Very eye-opening post. It really puts my “little problems” into a much greater perspective. No job, no home, no money…that would be horrible. I’m very grateful that God has given me so much. I hardly deserve everything I have, and I take most of it for granted. Excellent post! I just read your post “How To Transform Your Life…” – very moving. I followed through with it, and feel 110% more motivation.
I hit a rough patch this week and have been feeling down and unmotivated. Your articles give me that deep desire to help others and improve my self. Thanks Glen!