Putting it all in perspective…

A friend of mine commented on my last blog by telling me about his latest mishaps – serious injuries and broken bones (yah – you know who you are!). While I sat there whining like a 3 year old who just woke up cranky from her nap about my cold and my flu, he was hobbling on crutches, covered in bruises (probably – I didn’t see a picture but I can imagine) and in a heck of a lot more pain than me.  It was just a short and sweet comment about a matter of perspective, sent privately, but it made me think, and think a lot. 

It’s so easy to fall into the ‘woe is me’ trap, and we seem to do it all the time.  Just check your friends' daily posts on Facebook – it’s full of it!   Got a bobo? – Woe is me; got a scratch on your car? – Woe is me; got a mean boss at work? – Woe is me; a bad hair day? – Woe is me (speaking of bad hair days – I haven’t seen a hairdresser in 5 months – and every day is a bad hair day...but I digress).  Why do we do that?  All of us have a home, a bed, plenty of food, and a flat screen TV (OK - I don't have a flat screen TV but I'm sure I'm an anomaly here).  Compare that to any shanty town in India, or refugee camp in the Middle East or any war torn region. They don’t have a flat screen TV, or enough food, and their shelter and beds are tenuous at best.  They’d be happy to be in our situation, no matter how bad we think it is.  A cold? What about those that have no access to any medical care and have a life-threatening injury or disease? They’d be happy with just a cold. A scratch on your car?  Hey – you have a car! – enough said!  A mean boss at work?  So? You have a job!  Quit yer bitching!  A bad hair day? What is your problem?  – we don’t care about your hair (or mine!) – It’s immaterial (my favorite accounting term).

And yes, I totally agree with you! I am just as guilty as anyone else of the same pitfalls – I can complain and whine as well as anybody else.  And really – take a refugee, bring him to Canada, give him a house, food, job, medical care, car, big screen TV - that same person will find himself complaining about his cold to his friends in no time.  We forget the big picture. We forget to put things in perspective.  Sometimes we just have to step back and take a few minutes to remember what we have to be thankful for.