Less is more

Sometimes when we don't have everything we want, we feel like we have nothing.  Every therapist out there would probably acknowledge that how we view what we have determines our happiness.   "Looking at the glass half full or empty" has the power to affect our everyday lives.  But sometimes a situation is what it is, and sometimes that situation is a struggle.  I happen to think the more struggles we have to go through, the happier we become.  Maybe the less we have to be happy about, the more we will appreciate life. In turn creating true joy.

We've all heard the sarcastic phrase...FWP- First World Problems.   I don't think that is fair.  "First World Problems" include health, financial, and emotional problems that are real.  As I get older the more and more I realize that everyone has these problems, to different extents but still everyone has them.  So how do we handle these problems?  FWA- First World Answers.  We medicate.  We don't want to deal with any pain so we do everything we can to force whatever we are dealing with out of our conscious and subconscious thoughts.  Maybe there is a better way to deal with FWP.

I was in the doctor's office the other day.  It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was feeling really annoyed that I had to even go to the doctor.  I held the door for a young man in a wheel chair behind me.  We ended up taking the elevator together, and then walking into the same doctor's office.  I was in a bad mood and not really interested in making a friend...but this man has made a lasting impression on me and he probably won't ever know it.  Now, before I continue let me provide this disclaimer- this was my 4th doctors' visit in a month's time so I believe I had the right to be annoyed that I found myself still sick in the same doctor's office yet again.

Anyways, as I'm sitting there looking over my phone, and waiting to be seen by the doctor, I heard this man in a wheelchair cheerfully talking to the receptionist.  He knew the receptionist....clearly, he had been visiting the doctor more than I had.  After hearing him talk to her for about a minute I became intrigued with him.  While I was pretending to look at my phone, I was focusing on what he was saying to the receptionist- "God will provide...I'll be OK".  He then went on to tell her about a conference he was just recently at.  He told a story--- the theme of the conference he was at was "Everything happens for a reason...God will provide...".  a woman stood up at the conference and said she had cancer, she was struggling financially, and was going through much more.  The woman questioned how God was supposedly providing for her.   The speaker answered her saying, "I know what you are going through is really hard....and sometimes it feels like you can't get through.  But you're treading in deep water.  Sometimes you have to swim in deep water for a while until you get your answers."  The man in the wheelchair said, obviously I know what that's like. 

Sometimes it takes a while to get answers.... and that's okay.

So what do you do until then? Believe that there is a purpose for everything.  Keep your head up.  Acknowledge the situation you are in.  Believe there is a God who will provide for you...somehow, someway, at sometime.