Keeping everything in perspective

One of the things I am learning is that we can't qualify our pain. Pain is pain. My pain is real to me. My hurt hurts me. I can't compare my pain to anyone else's pain, and they can't compare their pain to mine.

It's easy to say to someone in pain, "Read the red letters (the words of Jesus in the Bible), pray and suck it up," and turn right around when we are in pain and crave for comfort and consolation.

As someone once said, "minor surgery is when it's on you, major surgery is when it is on me."

Yet at the same time, we need to keep our pain in perspective.

As you read this, ask yourself, "am I having a lousy day?"

It's so important to put everything in perspective.

David Slagle of Atlanta, Georgia writes this:

On Sunday evening, when I walked out to my car and pressed the keyless entry button to unlock the doors, nothing happened. I tried again and again. Still nothing.

After calling a repair shop, the mechanic said he would call me on Monday morning with an estimate. He did—and it was painful. That Monday evening, I walked up to the payment window to take care of my bill. A genuine southern belle greeted me.

"How are you doing, Sugar?" she said to me through a big smile.

As I handed her an invoice for several hundred dollars, I decided not to fake it: "Not so well."

Like an iron fist in a velvet glove, she responded: "Yeah, I know. But you know what, Hon? I didn't lose a child at Virginia Tech today."

She was, of course, referring to the 32 students at Virginia Tech who were killed by a gunman that morning. It was a punch—a perspective punch. I need those every now and again.

She continued: "I'm getting off work in five minutes, and do you know what I'm going to do?"

I shook my head.

"I'm going to go home and hug my little boy."

Good advice for all of us. Go home and hug someone today.