Keep Things In Perspective Today

Today kicks off the start of the holiday season. Lots of us are either hosting or traveling to be with friends & family.
Hosts in particular are stressing over minute details hoping to achieve that "perfect" holiday dinner in the perfectly clean home. New couples are meeting their significant other's family for perhaps the first time and obsessing over their clothes and hair. Older couples may be stressed over dealing with fragile in-law relationships and the cursory wild children & grandchildren that seem to populate these events. Dads will get white knuckles & knots between keeping the kids in line and fighting parade traffic.
I used to have a sister-in-law who made photography the focus of our get togethers. The entire holiday was lost in her zeal to document every detail on film.
Don't let the the quest for a slice of Norman Rockwell Americana get in the way of the celebration and enjoying the fellowship today. Lighten up and relax, and focus on what you have instead of the imperfections that make us all human.
This time last year I was getting ready for cancer surgery and was truly blessed to be in a loving relationship with plenty of moral support. I was thankful to have folks over and was beyond caring about the minor details of whether there were grease stains behind the trashcan that sits next to the stove.
About 20 years ago I found myself out of work and way behind on bills. I took a job making way less money in order to go back to nursing school. One day I left work and found that my car had been repossessed.
I called a friend to give me a ride home and he offered to hit the Wendy's drive thru and get me a sandwich.
As I was sitting there in the passenger seat feeling all sorry for myself, he pointed to a man sifting through the dumpster looking for food. That was a life changing moment for me and opened my eyes to the fact that no matter what life throws at us, there's always someone somewhere worse off than we are.
Spend less time today sweating the small stuff (and believe me; it's ALL small stuff) and more time in fellowship with the people you love. Happy Thanksgiving!


Peace until later. Tim