Putting it all in perspective

So I’ve been thinking…

So much about happiness in life is a matter of perspective.  We may whine about a hang nail in private, but we wouldn’t do it in front of someone who has had his finger amputated.  We may complain about being overweight, but we wouldn’t dare complain in front of someone who is starving.  And, a lesson I learned this week, we shouldn’t bemoan our misfortune for having a leaky toilette when so many others are waking up to the reality that their entire homes are flooded.

So knowing this, that putting our travails in perspective is critical to our own happiness, why don’t we do it more often?  I think I know.  Because perspective requires us to see that we are not at the center of the universe.  Perspective says that it really isn’t all about what is happening to me right this second.  Perspective necessitates humility.  And if there is one thing no one gets excited about, it is being humbled.

Isn’t this the whole crux of our spiritual condition?  Isn’t this why Satan was kicked out of heaven, why Adam and Eve ate the apple, why virtually every king of ancient Israel turned his back on God, why Jonah whined about having to go to Ninevah, why Judas turned his back on Jesus, why Ananias and Sapphira lied about their profits,  and on and on and on???

When it comes to viewing my own life, I’m working on readjusting my lens.  I don’t plan on pretending that the aggravations of life don’t phase me—a $300 plumber’s bill is nothing to sneeze at—but I want to be sure that I’m not mistaking the merely aggravating for the truly catastrophic.