It’s a Matter of Perspective
Erma Bombeck was one of my all-time favorite writers. She had a real way with words and could turn any event in life into a humorous story. One of my favorite short writings from her had to do with a Monday morning dieter who began her diet with small portions of healthy food, but as the day progressed (and hunger started to get to her), she began to alter what she ate. When her husband called to tell her he would be late for dinner, she started to falter. When her children asked her what she was doing with the fruit, she told them she was putting it under some crust where it belonged. [Diary of a Monday Morning Dieter]
Isn’t that how we sometimes are in life? Things look easy until they aren’t. Being out on our own seems so wonderful until the bills start rolling in and the washer breaks down. My job seems great until it isn’t. Marriage looks magical until real life sets in and the magic disappears. That salary seemed ample until there was more month than money. That surgery performed on someone else didn’t seem so bad, but when performed on you…
It’s that last example, that surgery, I want to focus on for a few minutes. That’s what made me begin to think about perspective.
A little over three weeks ago I had my second knee replacement surgery. The first had gone great, so I assumed that the second one would be the same – until it wasn’t. The knee itself is healing nicely, but my foot has decided it doesn’t want to work. I can barely move it and it has become a fall hazard.
I’m human, so I have had a little pity party and have been more than a little down in the dumps! I mean, after all, I have things to do – a speaking engagement coming up, classes to teach, a house to take care of, and my list could go on and on.
And then I came to my senses (or the anesthesia and other medications wore off ). It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was only focusing upon myself. I asked for forgiveness and then began to think of all those who had so much more happening to them:
- I thought of my new brother in Christ who is living on Hospice care.
- I thought about his wife and daughter who are tirelessly working to make him comfortable and be with him at all times.
- I thought about a wonderful couple from Illinois who had endured over a year of treatments for neuroblastoma on their little daughter Ruby, and after a short time in remission have had to enter the battle again.
- I saw on the news this morning a beautiful six-year-old little girl who was gunned down and her family is left to grieve her loss.
And my foot won’t work. How very selfish of me. From my perspective it seemed terrible, but in the grand scheme of things, it is a minor setback. If my foot never works right again, I can still do the things I want to do. Oh, it may be a little harder, but when placed in its proper perspective, it isn’t that bad.
Please learn from my mistake. Before you think that whatever is happening to you is the worst thing that could happen, take time to think about those around you who have it so much worse.
Better yet, spend some time thinking about what Jesus went through for you.
It’s a matter of perspective.
To Receive Every Article from A Legacy of Faith through Email for Free, Click Here
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
