1.11.2008

Perspective

It is human nature to complain when things go wrong, as I did yesterday. We blow things out of proportion, we dramatize them more than we should: "Oh, woe is me."

Sometimes something happens to instantly snap things back into perspective, to show that things really aren't that bad, and that instead of grousing about minor things, we should be thankful that we are even around to complain. Last night, when I got to work, I learned that one of our maintenance supervisors had died while on a hunting trip, apparently from a heart attack in his sleep. He was 43, according to the death notice in this morning's newspaper. Mike was a good guy, and it's a damn shame that he died so young. The tragic news really cast a pall over the whole night.

So for today, I'm not complaining about anything. Any day that you're on the right side of the dirt is a good day. Carpe diem, folks.