A Matter of Perspective

We like to wallow in self-pitty.

Ok, so maybe we don't actually "like" feeling sorry for ourselves, but we allow ourselves to because it gives us an excuse and explanation for why everything is not perfect. We wish we could be other people, who might have more money, fame, or supposed happiness. For some reason, it seems like a lot of people have it better than you, right?

WRONG! (BTW, make sure you watch this video after reading this post! Sean Stephenson embodies EXACTLY what I'm talking about and he's an AWESOME speaker)



With the economy tanking in U.S. and a lot of people losing jobs as well as money in the stock market, there's certainly a lot of self-pity going around right now. "Why me?" they ask. A lot of them probably fantasize about how amazing life would be to be Warren Buffet, with Billions of dollars and no worries!

We need to fix our perspective.

Do ever think that maybe Warren Buffet sometimes wishes he DIDN'T have all this money and that a simple investment decision wouldn't have an effect on an entire COUNTRY'S economy? Remember, this is a guy who lives in a modest 5 bedroom house in Omaha, Nebraska and drives an Oldsmobile. I'll even bet a lot of rich celebrities think the general population is so lucky to not get harangued everytime they go out to buy some milk.

When we are in any sort of despair we always compare ourselves to people who seemingly have it better.

"I wish I had a job. People who have jobs are soooo lucky!"

"I hate my job. People who have jobs they love are so lucky!"

"I like my job, but everyone else makes so much more money!"

"I wish I could got buy some Milk without photographers getting in my face and everyone asking for autographs!"

But, if we change our perspective, we can realize just how fortunate we are. Having a job would certainly be ideal, but, if you're in the U.S. for example, you're lucky enough to be in a country with (relatively) excellent programs for sustaining you until you find a source of income. If you were in Africa, India, or any number of places, government assistance would be nonexistent.

If you hate your job, count your lucky stars that you are fortunate enough to HAVE a job! Take a look at unemployment rates, and consider yourself among the lucky ones.

Your jobs fun but you don't like the money? I'd be willing to bet a LOT of people would take a healthy pay cut to do something they enjoy doing.

Wish you could go out without being recognized? Well, be grateful that your fame opens up doors others can only dream of.

The bottom line is, I think it's fine to not be "content." That's what drives ambition. But discontent shouldn't manifest itself in any form of unhappiness.

I'm pretty much always happy and never in a bad mood. When bad things happen, or things don't go right for me and I'm tempted to start feeling sorry for myself, I always think, "At least I have _____" or "At least I'm not ____." I think about the millions of people that, in spite of whatever problem I have, would love to be in my shoes.

I was pissed because I got a traffic ticket a few months ago. $170 down the drain plus eight hours of traffic school! But then I thought, "what about the people get in major accidents through no fault of there own, or make an error in judgement and get a DUI? They'd LOVE to be in my situation instead."

I know there are some situations where this approach is an oversimplification, but quite honestly, I think most people feel sorry for themselves far too often and waste a lot of energy fretting about things that are going wrong in their life rather than counting the innumerable blessings that most of us have.

I could sit here and make a laundry list of stuff I don't have or things that haven't gone perfectly. I bet, if I really thought about it, I could write a blog about the sucky things that happen every week, and have a little pity party!

But I realize how great my life is! A lot of people say to me, "gee, Arun you are so LUCKY!" I AM lucky. But the truth is, most people are and they just don't realize it. People see me as being lucky because they see how happy I am and because I talk mostly about awesome things happening in my life.

It's all a matter of perspective.

Sure I'm extremely lucky. But so are you.