Perspective

I know a lot of people who have been having bad days lately. Saturday was one of those days for my family.

We were all in a bad mood. Our basement had flooded and so did the backyard. The backyard problem was resolved Friday night, but the basement was another story. My dad has his den down there and there are a lot of computers down there, so he wasn't too happy. My parents along with my brother had to tear up the carpet and clean up down there. Meanwhile I wasn't too happy to have to watch the family's business.

Later I was going to a graduation party with my aunt and she asked if we were having a bad day. I guess my uncle was having a pretty bad day too.

Now today I know there are some people who are feeling like it's a bad day too. Man, do I have to go to work? I don't want to go to work. There's more flooding and it's such a pain.

To tell the truth I just the idea of this blog from two bands. I was sitting on my bed reading a book when a song popped on my mp3 player. Perspective by Seven Places, which is usually followed by Perspectives by Kutless.

I was curious, so I put down the book and looked up the lyrics to both songs. Both are obviously about perspectives, but what kind of perspective?

Well your life might be going out the window. What kind of perspective are you viewing this from? I like how Kutless puts it:

It feels like your life's crashing down all around you
Let me ask if it's really so bad
Look at the world in it's suffering
Can you honestly tell me that no one else could understand
All of the hurting inside

But I also like how Seven Places puts it:

My new car broke down, just the other day
They sold me a lemon
Good thing I like my lemonade
My glass was half empty
But now I see it full
It's when I'm stranded and empty handed
I become dependent on You

Everything is about perspective. How are you gonna view your life? So your life is going to the dump with all the wet, nasty carpet from my basement, are you really gonna view your life that way? Is your life really that bad?

We take so much for granted in this world. Tell me something, what would happen if you jumped in someone else's shoes for a day? What would happen if, as Kutless puts it, your lens was changed for a moment? Would you still view your life the same way?

There is world suffering. There are starving children in this world. There are poor people. There are genocides. There is violence. There are wars going on. There are famines.

I don't think your life is really that bad. When we're having a bad day, we need to jump into someone else's shoes for a moment and see what they're going through. I think it would change our perspective a lot.

Do you see the glass half empty or half full?