Life is all about perspective. It’s about how you look at things, how they stack up together and relate within the context of the rest of the world.
Some people get swamped at work, have to do something with their kids or just plain end up with so much to do they have to skip a meal. They’re miserable. It ruins their day. But then there’s thousands of people on Earth who didn’t even have one meal today, and if they did, it’s not what we would even consider a meal. Perspective.
A football player is having the season of his life. He’s leading his team to a great record and in doing so is making a great name for himself. Then a knee injury ends his season. It’s a tragedy. His teammates feel bad, his family feels bad, fans feel bad that the injury has ruined this great season. But he goes to one of the country’s best doctors, pays nothing, gets great medical care and still gets paid millions of dollars. At the same time, a factory worker falls down the stairs while rushing to work and injures his knee. He doesn’t have health insurance. He gets a huge medical bill that he can’t pay because now he can’t work. Perspective.
According to the National Priorities Project, the United States has appropriated more than $346 billion in Iraq. For perspective, this is what just $87 billion looks like. That’s a lot of cash that could probably go towards some pretty good things.
One such cause is this thing we call home. Well I guess it’s really called Earth, but it needs a little help. Do yourself a favor and watch An Inconvenient Truth, featuring the one and only Al Gore. That’ll give you some perspective.
And some final perspective:
The youth of the nation.
