Watch a Tsunami Clip and Quit Your Petty Whining

I think it’s safe to say all of us complain about things once in a while–some of us a lot more than is healthy.

I’m not talking about complaints about the direction our country is going and things like that.

My focus is on the petty complaints like: My Coke is flat…When will it stop raining?…I wish my co-workers were nicer to me…I missed the bus today.

Those complaints. In the greater daily scheme of things, they are small.

In the greater scope of things like earthquakes and tsunamis, they don’t exist at all.

Watch a video clip of last week’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan before you open your mouth to complain the weather is too cold or too warm. Or that your car is making a funny noise.

Sobering, isn’t it? There’s nothing like seeing an entire neighborhood SLIDE DOWN A STREET to make you realize you don’t have it so bad.

And I would venture to bet, that even when things are truly bad for you (illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, etc.), you are STILL far better off than many people who would gladly switch places with you.

I think kids (use your common sense regarding age appropriateness) should be shown tsunami footage as well. They need to see that not getting the latest designer jeans or coolest toys isn’t the big freaking deal they make it out to be. They NEED to see how petty they are being. They NEED to put things in perspective, sometimes even more than adults do because they are at an age where they are forming priorities and a sense of importance for everything.

I am looking out at the rains hitting our windows as I type this on the couch and instead of thinking of the idiotic drivers who will surely cause chaos on the roads as I go to work, I am thankful of the stability of the ground it sits on. Of my beautiful surroundings and belongings. Of my health and the health of my family and loved ones.

Our prayers for the Japanese people should already be something we’ve partaken in, if we are of the praying type.

Now it’s time to offer prayers of thanks for all the things we take for granted on a daily basis. We are truly luckier than we imagine ourselves to be.