Finding the Right Perspective When Life Has Handed You a Rotting Lemon

During the past couple of months, my husband has been hearing a lot of, “Be grateful you can walk without pain!” and, “At least you can bend over!” For someone – especially an active person – who has to spend a lot of time resting in order to recover from injuries, hearing other people complain about trifles such as the weather or temporary computer glitches is annoying.

This year, I basically missed spring, and an unusually pleasant one at that. For what felt like a long time, the mere task of shuffling to the bathroom and then back to my bed was scary, an exercise in cautious pain avoidance. A few weeks ago, therefore, I vowed that I would never complain about our hot and humid summers again, that I would get outside as much as I could stand it.

Severe cabin fever, and being restricted to a life indoors, had changed my perspective about the weather.

It had also made me feel excessively sorry for myself. How dare God allow such evil to happen to me! Wasn’t menopause enough punishment for my sins?

Then, my gluteus maximus began to feel as though it were healing. And I remembered the biography about Joni Eareckson Tada and her husband that I’d read a few years ago. Thought about all the other people on the planet living with permanent and severe disability.

I watched a few videos about sacroiliac joint dysfunction and realized that mine wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Neither is my disc compression, which, if bad enough, can cause pain to radiate down the legs.

I only have localized irritation.

A few days ago from writing this post, twenty-four people – mostly girls – lost their lives in a flood while camping. I have experienced no such tragedy in my family. I have lost neither limb nor mind due to war. I have plenty of money to live on and to share. My son is a decent human being, as is my husband.

I have a lot to be thankful for. And little to complain about.

Let’s not forget the dismaying and humbling fact that God did His darnedest to keep me from doing the things that caused all my injuries. I just chose to ignore the still, small voice warning me against them.

If you’re hurting or suffering as you read this, I don’t mean to belittle what you’re going through. Believe me when I say that when you’re in the middle of a long-term difficulty, I know how hard it is to see the light at the end of the jet-black, never-ending, claustrophobia-inducing tunnel that you had no intention of crawling into, but now can’t see a way out of.

I get it. You’re allowed to have a moment of anger, of bitterness, of despair.

But if that’s where you are right now, chances are high that there are plenty of people around the world who have it much worse than you ever will. Once you’ve worn yourself out throwing a pity party, set your mind on that truth. It will shift your perspective.

And life won’t seem nearly as awful as it did a minute ago.

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." - Philippians 4:8

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