Putting "IT" Into PERSPECTIVE ...

The recent magnitude 7.0 massive earthquake in Haiti has helped to quickly put things in perspective for me.


This week we had a new computer system installed at work that has not been easy to adjust to at times. However, after the events in Haiti on Tuesday, I had reason to stop and re-evaluate. I realized – I have a working computer! In fact, I have more than one computer in my home – one for my husband and me and one for our kids. While I was at it, I also got to thinking: I have power, lights, water, electricity, food, warmth, and shelter from the recent rain storms. I’m not fighting my way out of rubble; I’m not searching for missing loved ones.

I’m reminded of a book I have at home entitled, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: And it’s All Small Stuff,” written by a man named Richard Carlson. Richard wrote his bestselling book in 1997 and unexpectedly passed away from cardiac arrest only 9 short years later at the age of 45 years. I would imagine that Richard Carlson, like many of the rest of us, envisioned himself living well into his golden years. But he got “it” before his life ended … he got the message that for every minute we are angry, we lose 60 seconds of happiness (Ralph Waldo Emerson). We are not “promised” our next breath - yet we tend to take this breath for granted each morning when we rise out of bed.

So I am motivated to ask myself – what is really important to me? The next time I find myself irritated with my computer, or frustrated with that driver riding on my bumper, or cross with my kids for leaving the dishes in the sink … the next time I’m caught by that blasted train rail that comes down right as I am getting ready to go over the tracks (usually on a morning when I’m already running behind!), I will consciously try to stop and ask myself how much this will matter at the end of the day, at the end of the week, a month from now, a year from now. So many times when I look back over the week, though I know there were things that irritated me, for the life of me I couldn’t really tell you the specifics of what those irritations were. I lost precious time being upset when I could have spent that time making the most of the moment.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with this thought:

“Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass …

It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” (Unknown)