Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Perspective...

I love definitions. I feel like Webster really just says it best. As I looked up the definition of perspective for this post, I came across various definition. However, the one that fits best is was...

Perspective: a true understanding of the relative importance of things.


Too often we are flying through life in a high speed chase, rushing from deadline to deadline that even the smallest road bumps irritate us more than they should. 

For example, as I sat in the Doctor's office today my mom called me on the phone. As we sat there, just chatting away she began telling me how to talk to the Doctor. Immediately I was irritated. Did she not KNOW how old I was? I mean I'm 20. Surely if I can live across the country on my own, she doesn't think I am completely incompetent. I mean how hard is it to tell the Doctor your symptoms? In just a year and a half, I'll be a College Graduate. As my exasperation grew, she concluded her speech on what/how to talk to the Doctor. We concluded our conversation with me in a far worse mood than a sensible human being should have been in.

As I sat there and I put my phone down... I began to focus all my energy on my intelligence which had so effortlessly (and unintentionally) been insulted. As I began to think even harder on how "mature" I actually was (oh, the irony), my frustrations ensued. 

And then... like a giant slap to my face, I stopped. As I sat there, and took a step back I became instantly grateful. My mom is wonderful, I know that. You know that. My blog is dripping with those words. My mom is wonderful. But, even more than that... I have a mom. If there is one thing we take for granted it's family. The children who changed my life so effortlessly in Ecuador this Summer have no parents. They have no mom to take them to the doctor, and will never have an experience similar to the one I had today. 

My attitude became one of disappointment in the way I had handled the situation and grateful for the many blessings I take for granted on a daily basis. 



Perspective: a true understanding of the relative importance of things.

My caring mother with my best interest in mind. My inner frustrations at being an independent, twenty-one year old adult who can handle things herself. The millions of children who go without every single day. One of these is not like the other. 

Take the opportunity to step back. To check your perspective on even the simplest and smallest events in your life. Find what's important... and act on it. 

1 comment:

  1. Wow! What a mother payday this is. I think it's great that you were able to see how fortunate you are while having thoughts of irritation (evenif they were aimed at me.) Good for you. It is much like me lying in the "radiation chamber" trying not to feel sad and then offering a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for having access to doctors and equipment to help me heal.

    Well, you know what they say; Like mother like daughter!

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