Compassion

Sometimes I complain about what, at the time, seems like a big deal.

A frozen water pipe. Worse, a broken water pipe. Or the driveway is too slick with ice that I cannot get my car up the incline and into the garage, so I have to park it outside for the night. Or people expect me too much of me; their expectations are too high...perhaps they expect a greater return on their investment in me than is reasonable or warranted.

I could enumerate dozens...maybe hundreds or thousands...of examples of things about which I believe I have a legitimate reason to complain.

And then I encounter someone who has so many more reasons, of so much greater magnitude than mine. I compare my complaints to the reasons they have to complain and I'm embarrassed that I have allowed myself to become so petty.

A broken pipe versus a diagnosis of inoperable cancer. The inability to park in my warm garage versus being forced to live on the street due to loss of a job.

Yes, we could all become overwhelmed if we were to compare our little problems with the much bigger problems around us. But sometimes we don't recognize and acknowledge that we are experiencing inconveniences instead of real problems. We (and I supposed I'm using the Royal "we" here) should always understand and appreciate just how good we have it and we should make it our mission to do what we can to share just a little of our good fortune with people who don't seem to have any of it.

Maybe what I'm suggesting is that, at the very least, we should not take full advantage of all our advantages. Don't spend the money to travel to a distant city and spend money to stay in overpriced hotels to see the Super Bowl but, instead, watch it on television and send a little of the money that would have gone for travel to a homeless shelter.

I'm grasping at where to draw the line. Because I do understand guilt can play a part in how I react to the world. I don't want guilt to dictate every decision, but I don't want to allow myself to forget that I have an obligation as a human being to be compassionate and act accordingly.