EVERYTHING is relative

I'd like to share a thought that I have been wresting with for the past couple of months, the importance of relativity on individual perception. Have you ever wondered how different life would be if you were your dog? your best friend? your child-hood role-model? how about your most-hated enemy? We've all heard the idiom that "before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes." This, can apply to far more than just criticism. Take a second to think about your day or, if you had a less than eventful day, your week. Now answer the following questions as honestly as you can, no need to think long and hard about them, just go with your instinct:

1. What would you say was the best part of your day? How about the worst?

2. Did anything in your day in particular stress you out?

3. Think about a time that you felt productive--what did you do that made you feel that way?

4. Any regrets? Missed opportunities or chances?

To use myself as an example:

1. Best part of my day- well there were 3 bests today. One was getting a part-time job waiting tables at Mellow Mushroom this summer. Two was getting to run with a dude that has turned into one of my best friends, Carter Denne. And three was going to Fleet Feet with Will and getting wetsuits for the triathlon this weekend. The worst part of my day- when i discovered the kayak wetsuits we had rented for the triathlon this morning were more like parachutes and not wetsuits. (unfortunately for the rest of the race Saturday, Will and I were able to find some triathlon wetsuits at Fleet Feet)

2. Organic Chemistry... and when my mom figured out I had taken a shift at work tomorrow instead of going out for dinner with her and her quartet, who are going to be singing competitively in W-S this weekend (Good luck to them!). For those of you who care, i called  my new manager who was very sympathetic and now I am starting Sunday.

3. Two times today-One was when I was able to enter all the data at work this morning right before intervention started AND while I was driving to my interview I was able to get some payroll stuff straightened out. BOOM. Ya, this probably wont make sense to you but thats ok.

4.  I would have been frustrated if I hadn't been able to get out of my shift tomorrow, but fortunately that all worked out and now I will get to join my mom and her singing quartet for dinner. Also, I drove my car an assload today and now I need more gas, which sucks cause I hate buying gas.

Now take some time to consider how someone else might feel about these important parts of your day. In retrospect, your best friend, might not be the best person to use here, because it's more than likely that you and your best friend share many of the same experiences and similar values. But how about someone different, your best friends girlfriend for example? Or maybe branch out even more, a 30 year old single mom with two children? a 16 year old child in an impoverished part of South Africa? 

Let's take a look at my day through the eyes of an impoverished 16 year old:

1. Best- a job is great, unfortunately, I probably cant get a job, because I dont have any shoes, or maybe because I have to take care of my brothers and sisters during the day. I may go for runs, because it is a relatively inexpensive, but spending 50 bucks to rent a wetsuit?!? I might make 50 bucks a month, if I am lucky. Worst- a triathlon is the least of my worries.

2. Organic chemistry? Why would that matter to me? I don't have access to the medicine or doctors.

3. Telephones and computers? 

4. I have bigger things to worry about than buying gas for my car, like the health of my family and if Ill be able to feed my brothers and sisters tomorrow.

Wild to think that things that matter so much to you are seemingly meaningless to others. I have dealt with what I feel is a good deal of stressors recently (from deciding I want to get a PhD, to retaking the GRE, applying to grad schools, deciding where I want to go, finding a place to live, adopting and caring for a puppy with heartworms). In all reality, to be stressed by things like these is quite the privilege. In the hustle and bustle of modern life, its easy to neglect to take a step back and realize where we are. Recently I have been particularly bad at realizing how fortunate I am, neglecting to put things in perspective. If you are reading this, realize you are doing so on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or iphone and how fortunate we are to be able to do so.