When I stayed up on the International Space Station (ISS), I greatly enjoyed looking down on the Earth through the small window of my cabin. Whenever I woke up in the middle of the night, I unzipped my sleeping bag and opened the shutter of the window; I never grew tired of looking at the Earth. On one such occasion, I suddenly wondered why and how I was born there, rather than another planet and why and how I was born in that small Korean peninsula instead of a massive continent. Not only geographically, but also in timing, I started wondering why I was born especially in 1978 rather than another time.

 

‘What if I was born in the middle of that continent? Could I have received the education that I did before coming here? What if I was born in North Korea? What If I was born in 1950, in the middle of the Korean war?’ Suddenly, I felt embarrassed that I have been complaining rather than being grateful about all the things I had been given through no action of my own. Without any cause and not by choice, I was born in my country during a prosperous time. Yes, it’s not fair. So many innocent kids are suffering right now where they are without any good cause. So many people are struggling to survive through no fault of their own. Even though there were so many blessings I received from the moment I was born, I took them for granted and had never realized how lucky I was.

 

I realized that I should be grateful for all that I have—my friends, siblings, parents, teachers and colleagues—everyone around me, for better or for worse, as well as the wind, the sky, the stars, the moon, the mountains, the air and so on. Of course I cannot pass without appreciating the Earth and gravity. I have been surrounded by so many things that I should be grateful for, but I was too ignorant to realize it until that moment.

Our beautiful planet, Earth, is the greatest gift from God. I believe that we have an obligation to share it fairly with everyone, to preserve it to the best of our ability, and to hand it over to the next generation in as good a condition as when received.