Counting my Blessings

At Triage...

I worried about buying a new sofa and matching curtains for the living room,
a patient said he is homeless.

I fretted about not getting a pay raise and complained about the stress on the job,
the 55-year breadwinner with the chest pains was just laid off.

I whined about the high cost of hair color and how my highlights do not last long,
my chemotherapy patient was depressed about her alopecia.

I grumbled about my being stressed out with demands of my time from family members,
the elderly gentleman just lost his wife and now is all alone.

I ranted and raved about the nation's state of affairs,
this bright-eyed refugee from a third-world country gushed about free speech.

I complained about being tired from shopping all day long,
this young, gaunt HIV patient whispered, "I'm dying.".

And now that I am being inconvenienced by a little snow and rain,
the horrific images of the tsunami, typhoons, and mudslides just make everything else trivial and insensitive by comparison.

How can I complain?
I had learned long ago to count my blessings.



Nov. 2013- The aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)

“Imagine being born without arms. No arms to wrap around a friend ; no hands to hold the ones you love; no fingers to experience touch ; no way to lift or carry things. How much more difficult would life be if you were living without arms and hands? Or what about legs? Imagine if instead of no arms, you had no legs. No ability to dance, walk, run, or even stand. Now put both of those scenarios together… no arms and no legs. What would you do? How would that affect your everyday life”- Nicholas Vujicic

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/about-nick/