Perspective

From the Archives

Is a mind such a terrible thing to change?

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY

"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."

~ Bertrand Russel

Keeping Tough Days in Perspective

Life moves quickly. How often do we begin a week with the idea that we have plenty of time to catch up on all the things left neglected from the prior week, only to find by the weekend that yet another week has escaped us, evaporating hardly before we knew what happened?
There is not a time of the year when this happens more than during the summer. Meanwhile February, the shortest month of all, creeps along like molasses in, well, February. It's also easy at times with so much demanding our time, energy and attention, to lose perspective on the world that goes about its daily business, regardless of whether or not we pay attention.

Here are just a few things that go on every day, whether we notice or not:

In any given day, approximately 170,000 new babies are born. The world will grow at a rate of nearly 100,000 people every single day.

More than 1,100 couples will get divorced in America alone today, and 34 species will become extinct forever. Over 38 million barrels of oil will be produced, generating $2.3 billion in wealth. The earth will get warmer by a few millionths of a degree, and 16,400 acres of forest will disappear. Well over 45,000 new cars will be produced, as well as 100,000 new computers and 137,000 bicycles.

It's easy to get annoyed when the dishwasher breaks, when a fast food restaurant gets our order wrong, or when we get snagged in traffic. Sometimes our kids can be complete brats, and we argue with our significant others about things like who will clean out the litter box.

Does any of this energy we pour into such daily tasks, worries and preoccupations seem a little less important, given some of the things going on in the world around us? We can run ourselves ragged over things that, in the bigger scheme of things, just aren't as big of a deal as they seem at the time.

Life is hard, but keeping our troubles in perspective can be both healthy and liberating. Sure, there may be some people out there who have it better than we do, but there are plenty who may be thinking the same thing about us. Making the best of the time and lives we have is less about wishing for a better tomorrow and more about loving the life we have today.