This morning, in my car on my way to class, I was thinking about my makeup. I’ve been experimenting with my simple look recently, branching out a little bit. I’ve been struggling with winged-eyeliner, mainly because my gel pen doesn’t work the way I think it should. I get one eye on, then it dries and doesn’t come out so the other eye isn’t the same.

Then I had a thought. How lucky am I that I can complain about the fact my $24 Benefit “They’re Real” Push Up Liner won’t work properly. Yeah, that’s a lot of money to spend on makeup, I expect it to work, but the fact I have the ability to be let down by expensive makeup is a luxury.

I’m not going to get all preachy on you. I’m not going to give you a lecture on realizing what you have. Yes, we have first world problems, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t problems. When the Internet is down and I burn my tongue on my caramel brule latté, I’m going to complain.

But Thanksgiving is coming up, so it is a good time to recognize those things which we are lucky to have.

It might be annoying when my roommates don’t unload the dishwasher, but at least we have one. My roommates might just annoy me, but at least I have three wonderful women to call my best friends.

The fact I have to pay student loans back when I graduate may be frightening, but at least I had the privilege to receive financing to go to college.

I may be so busy I can’t find the time to go grocery shopping (or maybe I’m just lazy), but at least I have the ability to get in my car, drive to Chipolte and get a burrito bowl (with a tortilla on the bottom).

Black Friday may annoy me more every year, but at least we have the chance to purchase a large, flat screen, high definition, 3-D TV.

Our country has problems, but at least we aren’t at civil war or living in fear for our lives because of our religious beliefs.

This Thanksgiving, take a moment to reflect on your first world problems and compare them to the rest of the world. Hopefully it will help you realize how lucky you are.

Taylor Stuck can be contacted at [email protected].