Compared to What?

Have you ever thought "lifes hard"?

I know we all have at one time or another, but the words of Journalist, teacher and lecturer Sydney J Harris who is quoted as saying "When I hear somebody sigh 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask 'Compared to what?'" give pause for thought,

So what is the benchmark that you are making your comparison against when you think life is hard?

One of the most sobering places to check your benchmark is a visit to a childrens hospital or hospice, to realise that at any given time there are families struggling with dying or critically ill children, be it from drowning, seizures, cancers or any of the other miriad causes that result in these children being ill, and to realise that these challenges are going on twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a yea, no breaks for weekends or public holidays.

These children display amazing courage despite the pain or other challenges they face, those that can... smile, those that can't.... tell you a picture with their eyes or just by their pure determination to hold on.

The families are grieving for what was, for what their children may never be and for the pain and suffering that their child is enduring, but nonetheless they are getting on with making things as good as they can possibly be. Many of these families are also very humble, they appreciate that as bad as their situation is, there are always others in a worse position, because they can see it.

So next time you are complaining that life is hard, we invite you to pause for a moment and consider the plight of the many children and families in childrens hospitals around the world, or to think of some other benchmark and reflect " is life really as hard as you thought?"


Photo by oimax