There is Always Somebody Worse Off
What is your biggest problem at the moment?
I only ask because everyone, pretty much without exception has a set of problems they dwell on. Once one problem goes away another appears to replace it. Job worries, personal life, relationships, financial worries. The list is pretty much endless.
Here is the upside though.If you realise that this is the situation the ego wants you to be in then you are partly free. You can then consider problems merely situations to be dealt with, moved away from or accepted. These are your only three options by the way.
Consider also that there is always somebody who is worse off than you so count your blessings. Somebody you know or have met in the past is dealing with:
- Bankruptcy
- A seriously ill child
- A?debilitating?illness
- Redundancy
- Eviction
If you start each day by counting your blessings then it completely changes your energy level. Suddenly your problems seem like minor?inconveniences.
Paul Browning
Tag:Gratitude
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9 Comments
My wife and I talk about this all the time. We are so lucky that we can go on vacation a couple of times a year, that we have a house and can afford food without having to worry about money (too much). We might not be able to buy any car we want or afford a vacation to Bora Bora, but we are lucky to have each other and live in a home that we can call our own.
When problems arise, we look at them from a perspective where at least we are healthy and what ever issue we are running into right now, we can deal with it by focusing and knocking it out.
For most of us, the problems are minor in comparison to others. I had a neighbor that just passed away from cancer. No money in they world could fix her problems. If you are fighting with your spouse, figure out what good does the fighting do? Will your yelling lead to improvements? If not, figure out what will.
Focus on the good things. If you focus on problems, they will come, if you focus on success… it will come.
That’s my two cents.
Thanks Paul;
There are plenty of blessings to count each day. Even a cold foggy winters morning can be quiet beautiful.
As you are always worrying about something, it is good to put this worrying energy into something important that achieves something, and a quick reality check, that maybe nobody is going to die, so why lose sleep.
Peter
Exactly right Paul ! People who always complain about his “misfortune” are loaded with dissatisfaction, hate or envy.If we start to count blessings instead of grasp unhappiness, life will be much better.
Contrast your happiness with others’ woes, then you’ll see how fortunate you are.
It is very true that there is always someone worse off than you are. Remembering this sometimes makes it easier to deal with difficult people. I worked in customer service, and I dealt with many cranky people who seemed very hostile. After talking to them for a while, I realized that some of them were dealing with very stressful issues unrelated to their complaint about my company. Keeping this in mind made it easier for me to be compassionate when encountering someone who is upset.
It is so easy to get wrapped up in your own problems. Putting my troubles into perspective makes me see how fortunate I am and makes me much more grateful for what I have.
I am so grateful for what I have. I see so much misfortune around me, and I recognize that even though my life isn’t perfect, I am lucky to have what I do have.
I’m glad I read this. My worst problem at the moment is that I do not like my job. But, putting it into perspective: at least I have a job. There are many people who do not, and I am sure that they are much worse off than I am.
I was driving to work the other day when it was raining, and there was a crew cutting the grass and raking the leaves. In the rain. At 7AM. I did not complain about the morning meeting that day.