Ultimate Blog Challenge - How are you grateful for the life you are already living?

Welcome back to another episode of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Today's assignment is to write about

How are you grateful for the life you are already living?

Short answer:

Immensely! And so are you!

How do I know? 

See below, I found this on Kebba's Facebook page, and it is simple, but oh so true: 

Powerful, isn't it. It should include "your fridge/pantry are the dream of the hungry" and "your family and friends are the dream of the lonely people."

You get the picture though. Yes, we always strive to have and be more, and we tend to forget how far we've come, and to be grateful and cherish what we have.

An acquaintance commented and said

This is not a distancing from negativity, but a comparison with those who have it worse instead of helping them 🙈.

There are studies that show that you immediately feel better when you see a disabled person. That's kind of disgusting.

While I understand where she's coming from, I refuse to feel guilty. I can't save the world. I try to help where I can, and there is nothing wrong with being grateful for what we have, even if comparing to those who have it worse, supports the feeling of thankfulness. Does that make sense?

As I was telling you the other day, yesterday I attended the fire drill event in order to write an article for our town's magazine. I did not regret it, even if it made me cry in public.

What happened?

There was a staged accident vehicle, and we didn't know how it happened, but there was a chunk of stone weighing about 300kg (660 pounds) on the roof of the car. In the vehicle was our mayor (and friend of mine) who volunteered to be their guinea pig. You can see her getting in, not knowing what was expecting her.

The firetruck's crane was used to carefully remove the concrete block before gaining access to the vehicle. From this point on, the paramedic in charge was in constant communication with the victim, explaining step by step what his colleagues were doing to save her.

While the firefighters cut open the driver's door, the Commander explained to us the difference between immediate and rapid when it comes to rescuing the driver of a car. 

Immediate rescue is needed, for example, if the driver is no longer breathing, the car is on fire or is about to fall at any moment. In such situations, one must risk causing consequential damage to the patient. 

Fortunately, this was not the case with us, which is why this was a so-called quick rescue.

According to the principle of the golden hour, which is intended to improve the chances of survival of seriously injured patients, the rescue forces are guided by the following time requirements:

They must be at the scene of the accident within 20 minutes.

The next 20 minutes are used to safely rescue the patient.

Within the following 20 minutes, the patient is stabilized and made fit for transport.

In the meantime, the rescue teams had removed the driver's door and the left passenger door and were working on removing the windshield including the roof.

The Commander drew our attention to the fact that we motorists could make the rescue forces' work easier by keeping a rescue card behind the driver's sun visor.

If you're like me... What is a rescue card?

It is a document that contains on one page important information such as position of body reinforcements, energy storage, airbags, seat belt tensioners, gas generators, control units, etc., which help rescuers to proceed efficiently when recovering the injured person.

The rescue card for your specific vehicle can be downloaded and printed from the TCS website (in Switzerland), I would assume, the same is true for AAA?

Meanwhile, the fire crew had managed to turn the former small car into a convertible. Now the injured woman, of whom we did not know whether she might have a spinal injury, could be lifted out from the rear with the stretcher and carried away from the scene of the accident. 

We, the spectators, applauded with relief, and some of the firemen hugged each other. Personally, I was also very touched. Sure, it was just a drill, but accidents happen every day, and not everyone can walk home on their own two legs shortly after. 

"I had a bit of a queasy feeling" reported rescued figurant Katja. "The sounds of those saws and the uncertainty definitely get under your skin."

So I got my reason to be grateful right there. I am surrounded by caring and competent people, and my friend "survived" a car accident. 

Today is game day in the Italian part of Switzerland, another reason to be grateful, and I've been up since 6:30am, preparing sandwiches and pasta salad. 

Around 8:30am hubby got word that sh** is about to hit the fan at work. He's the owner. Two coworker are helping, but there's no way he can come with us. So it's up to me to drive. I'll manage. 

Happy Sunday, and I'm sure you have a lot of reasons to be grateful for the life you have!