Perspective: An Observation

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die." - Mel Brooks

Having ALS certainly doesn't give me a corner on perspective. But, over the seven plus years since my diagnosis, I've met many people who have been told they were going to die. Some are still here, others have, in fact, passed on. I can guarantee you that for each of them, a "terminal" diagnosis was a perspective changing event.

How receiving that news changes one's perspective varies by individual. Nature, nurture, life experience, training, personality, faith (or lack of), religion (different than faith), social status, etc., all play a role in shaping our individual perspective. Some people become more resilient, some crumble. Some accept the news with grace, go about getting their affairs in order, some begin bull riding, cliff diving and savoring life. Still others just take each day as it comes. 

Social media has become a wonderful platform for an increasingly self indulgent world. Sure, it can keep friends and relatives separated by distance more connected. Just this morning I sent a birthday greeting to my Cousin in Indiana. However, more and more often, social media has become a platform for the emotionally needy to whine. There. I said it. Get a grip, folks. More accurately, get some perspective.

We're whining about the snow, the cold weather, our kids, our spouse, our best friend, our job, the President and how tired we are. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, a 6 year old girl is having her head cut off by a stranger, there are people in Africa dying of HIV and there's a homeless guy in New York City who would take your "crappy" job in a heartbeat. There are people in North Korea picking thru garbage dumps for food because their "President" isn't held accountable to anyone. There's a 10 year old girl who has been sold into the sex trade somewhere.

When I see social media whiners, it makes me sad - because it usually comes from good people. People who are better than what they are Tweeting, positing or Instagramming. Social media has made it far too easy to thoughtlessly tap out our emotions on our phones and hit "Send". I can't help but believe how often we'd post differently if there was an hour delay before our posts went through, followed by a display of what we wrote with an "Are you sure you want to post this?" pop up.

What a world we could make if, for every selfie, for every whining post about what previous generations simply considered to be the trivialities of life, we substituted a genuine act of kindness for others. If we focused on others instead of ourselves. 

Everyone's entitled to a bad day. No question about it. But do we really need to share every little bump in the road with the world? Norman Vincent Peale said: "The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have." I don't now about you, but I can always use more energy. The question is, how do we choose to spend it? Whining, or lifting someone else up?

I joked with our visiting nurse last week that I was going to have bumper stickers made that read: "Perspective - Get Some". I think I really will.

Now, go surprise somebody with an act of random, unexpected kindness. Guaranteed, you won't feel like complaining after.