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Phrase: Take for Granted
Never take electricity for granted.
At the beginning of September this year, the Kansai region of Japan suffered a direct hit from the 21st typhoon of the year, Typhoon Jebi.
It was the most powerful typhoon to hit the archipelago in 25 years, and it caused havoc.
Coming from eastern Canada, it was common for me to experience storm-caused winter blackouts as a child.
I can remember that one year in the mid-eighties, we lost power for two weeks in the middle of winter due to an ice storm.
During the twenty years that I’ve lived in Japan, I haven’t lost power for an extended period until this year.
I had grown soft and begun to take a steady electricity supply for granted.
When you have something that you take for granted, you never really consider it not being there.
You believe you will always have it and never imagine what you would do if it were suddenly gone.
OK, so with that little bit of background information, we’ll move on.
Due to typhoon Jebi, here in Wakayama, we lost power for three days.
Luckily, our water system is gravity-based, so we still had running water and flushing toilets.
I’ve come to enjoy my nightly long soaks in a large bath with bath salts.
It had become a ritual I had indeed taken for granted until I had to take short, cold showers.
I was clean, but there was no pleasure in it, let me tell you.
Electricity is not the only thing people take for granted.
No matter where you live, I bet you don’t appreciate the beauty of your neighbourhood.
I’m sure you can see the beauty of the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver, Canada, at sunset.
But can you see the beauty right outside your door?
Look around your neighbourhood for the beauty hidden in plain sight.
Don’t take anything for granted.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 71.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.