It seems to me that too many people bitch and whine about the things they don't have. They don't have enough money. Their house isn't nice enough. They could or should be doing better in their lives. They should have more things. Nicer things. Ect,ect,ect to the point of inducing nausea. Or just wanting to smack them upside the head with a rolled up newspaper.
Which reminds me(You knew this was coming. Didn't you?) of the time I shared a house with a woman named Kathy. No, there was no romantic goings on(I'd tell you if there were. Honest.)we just split the rent and utilities and lived totally separate lives. It's not that we didn't like each other or that we didn't get along. On the contrary, we co-existed together quite well, it's just that we were two very different people with absolutely nothing in common.
Well, one night I was in my room reading when I heard her complain to her boyfriend, whose name by co-incidence was also named Joe(I guess you could say that her house was the only one on the block with a couple of swell Joe's in it. Oh well..... I thought it was funny.). Kathy as pissing and moaning that she didn't have enough and that at her age (30) she deserved more. Joe(who knew if he wanted to squeeze her he had to appease her) agreed wholeheartedly with her self pitying diatribe. I wanted to go out into the living room and remind of her of all the things she had. She had a job and wasn't lacking for money. She had food and wasn't going to go hungry anytime soon. She owned two horses and even paid to house them in a horse stall. She had a car. At the time, I didn't. She enjoyed the companionship of a boyfriend. I was between relationships during this period. Kathy really wanted for nothing and yet she still didn't have enough. I never brought the matter up, but I wanted to ask her what would be sufficient for her to consider having enough? What was it that she sorely needed in her life to fill this void?
There was a time I was a passenger on The Pity Train. It was during a transitional period when there seemed to be lot on my plate and I did my own share of pissing and moaning. My best friend Larry and I were hanging out in Philly and although we were having a good time, in the back of my mind I kept thinking of all the upcoming challenges facing me and I began feeling sorry for myself. Suddenly, Larry and I passed an all night band deposit lobby. In the lobby, on the floor, was a homeless man in a sleeping bag trying to get some shut eye as the glare of the city shone down on him. He had no privacy.People walked by the deposit lobby and probably looked askance at him, hoping he didn't wake up and then try to panhandle money from them.Suddenly, it hit me. With all of my problems, I didn't have it anywhere near as bad as this homeless man did. Next to the kind of life he was living(if you can call it living.), I was doing pretty damn well and immediately got off of The Pity Train.
It's been said hundreds of times before, but at the risk of appearing cliche, I think I'll say again: There's always someone else who is worse off than you. So during those times when you're down(for whatever reason) just remember to count the things you already have in your life and not dwell on the things that you don't have. You'll be surprised how many blessings you already have.
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