Reader Blessed Poem Graphic

I happened to see the graphic version of this poem and then a friend found the original poem on your website: YOU ARE BLESSED

Just wondering if you have an idea as to when the original poem was written? That subject arose because of variations in some of the numbers between the poem and the graphic, which of course is likely to worsen over time, unfortunately.

Thanks for the blessing of your email -- all the way from Down Under -- with the beautiful graphic of the YOU ARE BLESSED poem. I don't remember where I discovered the original poem but I posted it on my website about twenty years ago in 2003. It's printed out and stands on a shelf where I see it every day and count my blessings.

As you say, the graphic version does have variations in some of the numbers -- and is slightly abridged with stanzas in a different order. Here's yours transcribed:

If you have food in your fridge,
clothes on your back, a roof over
your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank,
your wallet, and
some spare change
you are among the top
8% of the world's wealthy.

If you woke up this morning
with more health than illness,
you are more blessed
than the million people
who will not survive the week.

If you have never experienced
the danger of battle,
the agony of imprisonment or torture
or the horrible pangs of starvation
you are luckier
than 500 million people
alive and suffering.

If you can read this message,
you are more fortunate
than 3 billion people in the world
who cannot read it at all.

Thanks again for the blessing of the graphic which is now displayed on the shelf alongside the original poem.