Perspective

If there is one thing I have gotten good at in the past few years, it's putting things in to perspective. That is not to say I don't occasionally gripe and grumble about my first world problems. I find it eerily coincidental that whenever I get in to one of my entitled white girl moods, as I'm prone to call them, I have something smack me in the face to remind me why I need to shut up and move on.

I have been really unhappy in my employment as of late. I'm working on it, but I have been a total whiney complainer about it. I have a job. I have a home. I'm never hungry. I have great shoes. I need to shut the trap.

The other day I went to Target to return a leaky container of laundry soap I'd purchased. When I got home I noticed there was a puncture hole in the container, and it had leaked all over everything else in the bag, and seeped on to my kitchen counter. I griped and groaned as I cleaned up the mess. Then when my friend got to the house I asked if we could swing by to return it before dinner. We did. The fella helping me was a grumpy early twenty-something, and I actually uttered the phrase to him, "You are the wrong person to be working the customer service counter. Now, if they had a whiney post teen angst counter, that would be the place for you."

The following morning I was driving to work and there was a homeless fella with a sign. I quickly gathered up all the change in my wallet and rolled down my window and motioned him over. I apologized, "It isn't much. I'm sorry." He had a huge grin on his face showing his total of two teeth or so and said, "Anything helps. Thanks so much!" He then went on to say that I just helped him to get some coffee, and how life was great. He made my day. I thought to myself, "Here is a man who has no home, who's covered in dirt, who has no idea where his next meal is coming from, and he's the cheeriest person I've seen in weeks. What the hell is wrong with the rest of us????"

It really recharged my battery and changed my whole outlook. I need these reminders and I can't help but think there is something out there in the universe that sends them to me. They happen way too often to just be by chance. I am eternally grateful for them.

I haven't complained about my job in days. I have been back to my smiling, look on the bright side self. I have been kind to others, and jovial, and when I visited Unicorn this weekend I was downright perky. It was nice. I am hoping to some day get to a point where I can switch gears like this on my own, without the help of a random stranger to nudge me out of the uglies.

So thanks random homeless dude. Random homeless dude who I maybe gave 50 cents to, who changed not only my day, but my whole life for a while. And in turn, you changed the life of those I care about who don't have to listen to me gripe for a while. You do good work fella. I just wish you could get paid for it, because you totally deserve it. If there were a career for, "Make someone happy, and in turn that'll make someone else happy" you would be rich as hell. It's a crying shame the position doesn't exist.

Happy picture of the day: funniest review ever.