Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Looking at things differently

Sometimes you think you may have got the raw end of the deal. Your employer says, "See ya later, good luck with that job search" or you get a brand new insulin pump that promises to make your toast in the morning, but it doesn't live up to your expectations.

You know what? It's really not so bad.

There's enough to eat. Clean water to drink. You're relatively healthy. The Kid is doing well in college and is still employed, even in the recession. The home business is picking up. But I still managed to eke out a bit of self pity recently.

Until I saw a post from my friend, who was struggling with a tooth infection. Ouch! Then she posted, "I disconnected my IV medications until I get answers!!!" What the heck? I know she's been dealing with cancer, although the last I heard she was doing pretty well. Looked like something was very wrong (I wasn't born yesterday, ya know), so I wrote to her. She explained that the treatments she's been undergoing could be more devastating than the cancer itself.

It puts life in perspective, doesn't it? All I could offer was to help with some shopping. Lame? Sure. But appreciated by her, maybe more than I know. That's okay, that part isn't important. If I can help even in some small way, I'm happy.

But maybe we all should look around us. It's the perfect time of year, in fact, every day is perfect for a random acts of kindness (or two).