Keeping things in perspective
My face has this tendency to turn red after I’ve been out in the heat for a while. Bright red. Oh-my-god-are-you-ok-red. I don’t know why, because I don’t feel that hot. But apparently my face thinks otherwise.
So when I need to drive somewhere in the summertime that’s more than 5-10 minutes away, strangers at my destination will sometimes ask me if I’m ok.
“Yes,” I’ll say, “I’m fine.”
Then they’ll go on to point out that my face is all red, so I’ll tell them that I’m just a little hot because I’ve been driving around without AC.
Usually the responses go something like this:
“No AC!? I could never do that!”
“Oh, bless your heart.”
“You poor thing, hope you can get it fixed soon.”
“My AC broke once. It was awful.”
“Ugh, how can you stand it?”
Now it’s not a big deal to me, and I tell them so.
But I had the usual are-you-ok type conversation again last week with someone, and their response jumped out at me because it was so atypical:
“Oh,” they said, “Well at least you have a car! You’re lucky.”
“Yup,” I replied.
That was the first person who has EVER had a positive response to what I’d said.
Ever!
I have been thinking about what that person said all week. First, they are a person I’d love to get to know better. Clearly they see things in a positive way. Second, in the years of people responding negatively to me about the no AC thing, somehow this is the first time I’ve realized that people WERE responding negatively. I think in the future I’ll leave the explanation at “I’m just a little hot” and see how that goes. Because really, what does the AC have to do with it?
Finally, I think this is a good wake up call for our lives, financial and otherwise. Most of us are very, VERY well off, even if we are dealing with owing money, trying to keep the lights on, or not having the cash to run out and buy the latest doo-dad on a whim.
We have access to a computer that’s likely to be in a climate-controlled building, and we have the ability to read — meaning that we had the leisure time to learn, and that we probably attended school. Those things right there are signs of extreme wealth. And keeping (or getting!) a positive perspective can change your life for the better.
Talking to friends, family or children(?) will also help us all keep things in perspective.
There have been countless times that I have come home from my day job feeling like the whole world was on my shoulders. I then would have a good chat with my wife and she would more than most give me her sense of perspective on the issues of the day. It is often so good to talk to someone with a sympathetic ear who have a certain distance to one’s own problems. Children have a really healthy perspective on life and really bring you back to earth. I remember the time that we had to move from the area where my wife’s niece. It goes like this:
“Why do you have to move from here?”, asked the niece.
“I have to go as I have to start a new job.”, replied my wife.
“Why don’t you just get a job near where I live then?, pointed out the six year old. :)
Sam
Fix My Personal Finance
You don’t realize how many negative comments people say because they’re often disguised with some sarcasm or a joke. You’re totally right we are extremely well off. There are places around the world that would make most of us cringe, yet people there survive without much difficulty though maybe not in the lap of luxury we’ve got.
Its good to take a moment every now and then and realize all the things that we do in fact have rather than griping about not having AC in the car.
Awesome post!! Seriously. It’s amazing that we can overlook how fortunate we really are.
Unfortunately, a lot of people would have been offended by that person’s remark.
Nicole, really? Why?