It's About Perspective

I got some pretty bad news over the weekend. Well, not bad as in like someone dying, kind of bad...but it was very disappointing. Of course, I received the news over the weekend and like all news of this type, there is nothing I can do about it until Monday. So as I sat "in my feels" I could tell I was emotionally decompensating, which is a fancy word for feeling worse by the moment. Of course, my dog, Laz, is a service dog and he could tell I wasn't my "baseline" self. With much encouragement from him, we went on a walk. As we walked we came across a nearby neighbor pounding on his aluminum garage door with a large wooden mallet. It didn't take long for Laz and I to notice that his door was a bend and twisted mess and he was just trying to get the door panels to stay put. He paused his pounding and looked at us. It was awkward. We didn't want to seem nosy, but it was too late, he saw us seeing him. "Looks like you're having a bad day", I said trying to ease the awkwardness that I was feeling. "My kids ran the golf cart into the garage door", he said with irritation mixed with a bit of resignation. Suddenly, I gained perspective. I realized my problems, while real and frustrating, were not as bad as my neighbor's. Sure, comparing myself to him in that moment was a bit selfish, but hey, I realized my situation just isn't that big of a deal. We all face problems of vastly different magnitudes, so I am not saying to go out and find a person with a bigger problem than you so that you can feel better. That's reckless. Rather, take a moment to simply consider this: In this vast and incredible universe that God created, where does my problem fit? Is the problem greater than you can handle? greater than universe? greater than God? Remember, perspective.