Would you trade your problems for someone else's?
Think about it. It is an age-old question and when faced with it, 99% of us will say, "No way".
Why? As bad as your problems are, why wouldn't you trade them for someone else's? The simple answer is - they are yours. You know them, they are familiar and you have learned how to deal with them.
When faced with the obstacles that others must deal with, we always say to ourselves, "I don't have any problems compared to SoAndSo." (Who is this mysterious SoAndSo anyway?)
As children, we envision our lives as this golden path filled with love and happiness. As adults, we are faced with issues we never knew existed. We must learn that other's bad choices will impact our lives. And of course, our own judgement will create obstacles we never anticipated.
As we watch others we are always looking for cracks in the veneer. Or we assume the life they portray is perfect in ways that our own will never be.
But once you start examining it further, you find that no one is immune to life's little problems. Every single person and every single family has them.
Some put life's little problems out there for everyone to see. But most do everything in their power to keep life's little problems hidden and secret.
It doesn't make us weak or dishonest to hide life's little problems from others. We are built to do that very thing.
We are built to survive. In the Hunter/Gatherer stage we had to survive the basic food chain. As we've evolved from those simple creatures we can never get away from that basic instinct to survive.
We don't even think about it. No matter how many of life's little problems we must face, our bodies keep going. They keep moving. They keep pumping, taking nourishment, and surviving.
No matter how horrific life's little problems become - we take them, manage them, compartmentalize them and thank Whatever We Believe In that we don't have the same problems as "SoAndSo".
Would you trade your problems for someone else's?
I wouldn't.
Think about it. It is an age-old question and when faced with it, 99% of us will say, "No way".
Why? As bad as your problems are, why wouldn't you trade them for someone else's? The simple answer is - they are yours. You know them, they are familiar and you have learned how to deal with them.
When faced with the obstacles that others must deal with, we always say to ourselves, "I don't have any problems compared to SoAndSo." (Who is this mysterious SoAndSo anyway?)
As children, we envision our lives as this golden path filled with love and happiness. As adults, we are faced with issues we never knew existed. We must learn that other's bad choices will impact our lives. And of course, our own judgement will create obstacles we never anticipated.
As we watch others we are always looking for cracks in the veneer. Or we assume the life they portray is perfect in ways that our own will never be.
But once you start examining it further, you find that no one is immune to life's little problems. Every single person and every single family has them.
Some put life's little problems out there for everyone to see. But most do everything in their power to keep life's little problems hidden and secret.
It doesn't make us weak or dishonest to hide life's little problems from others. We are built to do that very thing.
We are built to survive. In the Hunter/Gatherer stage we had to survive the basic food chain. As we've evolved from those simple creatures we can never get away from that basic instinct to survive.
We don't even think about it. No matter how many of life's little problems we must face, our bodies keep going. They keep moving. They keep pumping, taking nourishment, and surviving.
No matter how horrific life's little problems become - we take them, manage them, compartmentalize them and thank Whatever We Believe In that we don't have the same problems as "SoAndSo".
Would you trade your problems for someone else's?
I wouldn't.
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