Perspective

Are you having a bad day? Feeling sorry for yourself? I was this morning. Until...

I had the opportunity to help someone. A single mother of three whose youngest son was almost killed in an accidental shooting two years ago. She was moving because the small house she had been renting was in foreclosure - her landlords simply hadn't paid the mortgage with her rent checks. She only had a couple of days to find a new place that would accommodate her son's wheelchair and ongoing medical needs. Her nursing hours had been cut, so she had been up most of last night caring for him. Her parents had come to help, but her father was limited because he is in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.

All I did was wipe down things throughout the house. She came in with her son in tow, smiling from ear to ear. She got right to work, talking and laughing as we cleaned. She took everything in stride, even when her carpet cleaner blew up. Her biggest concern as I went to leave was that she had taken all the food over to her new home and didn't have anything to feed me for lunch.

Hungry? It was the last thing on my mind. I had driven to that home seeing only the difficulties in my life. I was hungry then, but for perspective, not pastries. I needed to see all the things I had to be grateful for. I needed to be lifted by a woman who had every reason to be bitter and angry and feeling sorry for herself, but who laughed and smiled and worked. I left there feeling filled, despite the empty refrigerator.

There is always a reason to be discouraged. You can always find a reason to despair. But there is always someone who has it harder. There is always someone you can help. There is always a reason to seek for joy. There is always something to be grateful for.

Perspective. It's what's for dinner.