“Do the next thing”

If I’m having a bad day, someone else is having one that’s worse. If I’m sick, someone else is sicker.  If I’m frustrated by an obstacle, someone else is nervous about a bigger one.  If I have too far to drive, someone else has a longer trip.  If I don’t like my weight, someone else is frustrated that they more lbs to lose.  If I have too much housework, someone else has a larger house to clean.  If I don’t feel I have enough room in my house, someone else fits more people into a smaller one.  If I’m in a tizzy about a relational problem, someone else has one that is more dramatic.

So, since my problems are smaller than other peoples’,  I should consider myself blessed, smile every day, suck it up and be happy.

Not.

I still have frustrations.  Anything that can be deemed a challenge or obstacle in my world is just that in my life.  Others might want to tell me that my “problems” don’t matter because they have bigger ones. They seem to think that since I don’t have their circumstance, my life is carefree.  No, it just means that they can’t see my life through my eyes.  They aren’t walking in my shoes.

“I should consider myself blessed, smile every day, suck it up and be happy,” simply because God is there and knows all about the issues in my life, not because I’m better off than someone else.

Just because I know that, doesn’t make it easy.