Perspective...

Well, I'm done wallowing in my own self-pity. I knew all you avid readers of my enlightening, grammar retarded blog would want to know this.

Its not that I suddenly like this place. Or that I am suddenly happy with the situation. Or that I finally found a friend with a male child with the perfect personality and in just the right age range to play with my own little parent tripper. Nope. It's was perspective that came in and gave me a swift kick to the (rather voluptuous) tooshie.

Lest you misunderstand, this healthy dose of perspective was directly from God. He didn't call me on the red phone or speak to me in a vivid dream. Just at the right time and in the right way (as always happens when its from the Creator...) I was handed perspective.

Really it's very simple. No matter how bad my life is (or I think it is), no matter the pain, no matter the frustrations, no matter the challenges - SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS IT WORSE! Somewhere and in someway, another person is suffering in ways that I can only imagine.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of reading about other moms who are suffering. Suffering in unimaginable ways. There I was, wallowing about my own shallow little trials and I was struck by their stories. Life and death. Real pain. Real suffering. Real challenges. I was in tears (which come oh so much easier the older I get)! And thats when my perspective re-aligned itself back to where it should be. Where it usually is. I have faced enough hurdles in my own life to know that sometimes - most of the time - happiness and contentment are a choice. A choice to accept where you are and what you have. A choice to be happy. A choice to accept what God has for you. A choice to allow him to work in your life..despite your husbands bad decisions. Or maybe because of your husbands bad decisions :)

So, there I was. Sobbing in front of my computer like some postpartum, sleep deprived, new mother. (Darn this new world of blogging!) I was completely engrossed in the awful experiences this mother faced and touched by her faith and resiliency. Was my faith so weak that I would allow myself to continue down this unproductive path or could I soldier on? Of course, OF COURSE, I chose the latter. My simple trials are NOTHING. I have nothing to complain about. I have so much to be grateful for.

Really, whining is not option. Its all about perspective.