Perspectives

This post owes its spark to a post by Patois: Whee! All The Way Home: Perspective

When my life gets tough, which is has lately due to increased work responsibilities, it can sometimes help to remember how much better my life is than it could be.  Better than it actually is for many others.  Not to gloat, but rather, to remember to be grateful for the good parts and not just obsess about what's hard.  I have 2 good perspective shifts to share below, and one sad one.  And an anthem that helps me get through tough times at the very end.

Funny perspective story #1:  When DH was in law school, the gruelling study and test schedule was hard on everyone.  Those with additional burdens had that much more to juggle.  He had two classmates, both women, who eyed each other during the orientation.  One was several months pregnant, and the other had a cast on one leg, relying on crutches to get around campus.  They each confessed to the other at the end of the year, that they got through the challenge by reminding themselves, "Well, at least I don't have to deal with what she does on top of it all!"

Funny perspective story #2: My best friend who already worked in public service, found it necessary to go to police academy as part of her career credential, at age 35.  She was surrounded by 19 and 20 year-olds, and spent 6 months running daily and working out to get in shape for the physical strain.  A colleague who had gone a year earlier came close to not graduating due to the fitness requirements.  My friend would describe her days to me when we caught up on the weekend:  Classwork was easy, but the jogs, pushups, tests of stamina were a struggle.  They got painful tear gas dabbed in their eyes and then complete an arrest.  One particularly tough day awaited her:  Climb an 8-foot wall wearing all her police gear, and then fight "red man" on the other side.  "Red man" is a big muscular guy outfitted in red padding, ready to beat you down until you give up, or you manage to subdue him.  Right mouse-click here to see a video.  During all her travail, no matter how hard my job got, I could always remind myself that at least there was no "red man" around the corner waiting to kick my ass.  That was a good perspective.

The sad stories:  One friend's husband had a mild stroke this summer.  He is recovering, almost 90% his old self, after many challenging weeks and months.  But another friend's wife is not doing so well.  Heart surgery and a bad stroke has removed all her speech, and she has very limited mobility.  All of them are younger than I am.

The anthem that helps me get through tough times: Hold On from the musical: The Secret Garden (takes a minute in for the song to start)