Health

Hello,
In my last post, I told you of my horrible week of death and heart troubles. Along with all those things happening around me, I had an atrocious head cold. I had it all: The massive sore throat, the runny nose, coughing enough that I thought I might get a six pack from doing so, and even the nasty phlegm days at the end. I had the works.

All throughout the week, I was complaining in my head about my sickness. How I wished the sore throat would stop. How I wished My nose would stop running. How I wish I could smell the summer air. I just wanted out. Then I fell to thinking about how during this same time, my grandfather had a heart attack. A heart attack. There was a good chance he was going to die. And here I am complaining about my little runny nose, when he's possibly going to die.

It made me realize, here in life, there will always be someone who is in worse shoes than yourself. No matter how bad things get, someone else will be worse. Most of the time, we complain about the littlest things- how we have to watch a different movie than we wanted to. How we wished to have ketchup, not vinegar, with our French fries. How we wished there weren't so many flies outside. And yet there are people out there with family members dieing around them, who would LOVE to have only our problems.

I know someone who is going through crap, and I mean crap. His dad died when he was nine. His mother is currently dieing. And He is only 18. Now. Every time you feel like complaining, think of him. Would you rather be in his shoes....or yours?

I'm reminded also of a M*A*S*H episode, where one of the doctors, BJ, is talking with another one, Hawkeye, about going home to be with his wife. He talks about how much he will love to do all the small things that he used to hate to do- fixing up the house, taking out the trash, doing the dishes, etc. How just being home with his family, as opposed to being a surgeon in Korea, would make all those tasks feel like heaven.

So the next time you complain about taking the trash out, think about how little and insignificant that problem is, when compared to the alternatives.

Foy Lyndström