Perspective

I read a quote the other day that said, “No matter how bad things get, there will always be good in the world. You just have to look for it.”

The day that I first read this quote, I had three separate conversations.

The first one was with a lady who had some allergy issues going on at the time. She walked into the room, and the anger and frustration were visibly oozing out of her. She was in a terrible mood, to be honest. When I flashed a smile and said good morning, she proceeded to rant and rave about how bad she felt, how much she hated an Arkansas spring, how she didn’t want to be at work, etc.

Later that morning, conversation two happened with a man who loves his coffee, but starting that week, he was trying to give it up to break his caffeine habit. He made this statement to the room full of people: “Nobody cross me this week. I am giving up coffee as of today, and I already know it’s going to make me a bear.”

I sat there during both conversations, listening to each of those people with a smile on my face and cordiality coming out of my mouth. Man, was it hard…but I did it. After all, I totally understand having a bad day after the last few months of my life. I’ve had some bad days, y’all.

But you know what?  Neither one of those people understand the nerve pain I now constantly feel in my intestines. The coffee-drinker didn’t know how much I wish I only had to voluntarily give up one drink instead of the extensive, required list of high-FODMAP ingredients. The allergy-haver didn’t know how extraordinarily thankful I was to be sitting there, alive and functioning, on that beautiful Arkansas spring day. Neither one of them knew how close I had come to starving to death a few weeks prior, nor did they know how lacking in sympathy I was for their minor issues in those moments.

That afternoon, I had one more conversation.

This one was with someone who is currently facing one of the scariest medical situations I have ever heard of. And you know what he said to me, first thing?

“How can I pray for you today, sister?”

I was floored.

A man who is facing the most unimaginable circumstances had taken some of his precious time to send me that message. We then had a moving conversation on how to pray for each other in that moment, and I can only hope that he knows how much that meant to me.

Perspective, y’all.

I learned a lot about it that day.

More than any other factor surrounding us, our own hearts have the power to make our days as good (or as bad) as we want them to be.

So how will your heart shape your perspective today?