Perspective

I recently had one of the worst weeks I can remember.  Crushed dreams on Monday.  My mom called on Tuesday and we had to put my 14 year old cat down.  That was hard.  I felt sick all week and I knew well the impending doom of the five papers that were due in the next seven days.  It was awful.  I felt lower than I had in a long time.  But was it really so bad? What makes life good or bad?

I've considered this concept for a while, probably after my brief experiences outside the country, when I saw poverty like I'd never seen before.  I find that a lot of the things that absolutely plague me would seem run of the mill or even wonderful to a lot of people in the world.

I come from an upper middle class home in a suburb outside of Memphis.  I've been spared a great number of the struggles that many people have had to endure.  My parents love each other and have a great relationship.  My brother and sister are great and I love to spend time with them.  I played sports all through my childhood and played in band in high school.  I had some really solid friends in high school who were there for me when I needed them.  I go to a private Christian college.  It's expensive but I've been blessed with scholarships and my parents have pitched in the rest.  All that to say: I've had a pretty good life.  Few tragedies.  Few sorrows.  Many joys.  Holidays and birthdays were always happy.

Even so I still have days where the world feels like it's falling down around me.  One week this semester was especially difficult because I had a ton of homework.  Not to be that evangelical, but there are kids in Africa who would love to have homework.  There are people who would do anything for an opportunity to be where I am learning what I'm learning.

So what makes an experience either good or bad?  Each experience fits within the larger framework of experience, and is compared to other experiences in order for the present experience to be deemed either good or bad.  Admittedly, good and bad are largely subjective terms in this case, though there are some experiences (death of a loved one) that could be more objectively determined.  So for me, homework is often a factor in a bad day.  It often makes my day worse.  It shouldn't, but that's the way it is.

When I think of things like this, I'm reminded of others who have had far worse experiences and been the victim of truly awful things.  The added perspective reminds me that my interpretation of the goodness or badness of my life is flawed and quite possibly trivial.  I need to remember that I have been blessed with material things.  I have all my needs provided for.  My life can pretty much always be described as "good."

I believe that I have been blessed with material things so that I might bless others, but I only really live this out when God blesses me with perspective.  Perspective to see my "sufferings" in the grand scheme of things.  Perspective to understand that this world does not revolve around me and that there are people who hurt worse than I could possibly imagine.  They need love, and I have been blessed with the means to give love.  God help me to get over myself and see the hurts, pains, hopes and dreams of others.