I mentioned “Perspective” to someone this morning. I was discussing how the awful and untimely death of a wonderful, young woman put my issues into perspective. I know exactly what I meant by it at the time and my point is still valid, but I have started to wonder at the weight we can put on people with a statement like this.

We need to be careful that , in accepting there are people all over the world in truly desperate circumstances, we do not invalidate a person’s sense of injustice, sadness or stress in their own life. How lousy is it when you are bemoaning something to a friend and they quip, ” Oh well, there are lots of people worse off than you.”

Unless you live on an island in the backside of nowhere I reckon we are all very aware of the horrors facing others around the world. However It does not take from whatever is going in your world at that moment and, honestly, when I am on a downer, it has never made me feel better to think of others in a worse position.

But, perspective is a wonderful tool to help us get back onto an even footing, to ground ourselves when our minds have gone into a tail-spin. It allows your brain to regain order and calm and to eventually look outside of yourself once more to find your place within your sphere of influence.

Accept though that perspective is transient and that’s okay. It’s like a beautiful view; circumstance, like nature, will change what we can see, sometimes enhancing and sometimes obliterating what is always there.