Poke in the Eye Perspective

This morning I received an email from a wonderful online friend.  The email was entitled "Perspective" and this is what the story within the email read:

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He

 held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.  

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.."

I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind.  Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling! And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind 

it!!!

If I make a person smile, then it is a good day.

I needed this story today.  I'm not sure if it's the January blahs, mid-life hormones or just plain undetected sin in my life God has yet to reveal, but I sure needed this little poke in the eye of perspective.

Thursday was a bad day.  I was home and taking down the Christmas decorations while Hubby was at work.  At one point, with boxes scattered throughout my living and family rooms, I went searching for the mini Boyd's Bear ornament's box.  I dug into one box and then the next, not finding it.  For whatever reason I began to get agitated and flustered.  I call bother Hubby at work, hoping that he will somehow miraculously know where the box can be found.  He of course doesn't because really, why would he?  He didn't unpack that little box of ornaments.  He rightly should have no clue where it is now.

I begin to rant and rave at him.  He tries to calm me and tries to remind me that on the grand scheme of life, this box for the decorations is pretty insignificant, but I'll have none of that.  I'm a woman on a mission.

As I hung up the phone I quickly lifted up a prayer Heaven bound (with a bad attitude attached I'm sure) and within 10 minutes I was down in the family room deciding to start unpacking those boxes while I cooled down.  Surprise. Surprise.  There in the bottom of one of those boxes was the small ornament box.  With red face and shame I lifted up another quick prayer of thanks.

I'd love to tell you that my mood improved and perspective was crystal clear but it wasn't.  Later that afternoon I was snarky to Hubby over an accident that had happened to our external hard drive.  I didn't mean to, but I hurt his feelings.  In my tunnel vision I lost sight of all the blessings I have and focused yet again on things I'd lost (like years of digital pictures).  This situation caused Hubby to confront my attitude and made me reflect a little on how I see life and how that needs to change.    (BTW ~ I am very grateful for a gracious, honest and forgiving husband!)

Receiving this email this morning, I felt God was again reminding me to live my life with a little more perspective.  Too often I allow my emotions, spiritual attacks and my own sinfulness to blow life out of proportion.  Not finding a decoration box is so minor in the grand scheme of life.  Yes, it's heartbreaking to lose all your pictures, but so much more heartbreaking to hurt your spouse's feelings.

This afternoon I watched My Sister's Keeper on DVD.  Talk about putting things in perspective!  People are suffering.  Families are grieving.  Life is brutally hard for so many.  Me?  I have it pretty easy.  I think it's time for me to put on my big girl panties and look beyond myself.  Thankfully, God isn't finished with me yet!