Perspective

They say money makes the world go round, which makes it sound like a natural phenomenon,  like wind or clouds.  Trees are the epitome of nature, but they also say money doesn’t grow on trees.  I think they are a little confused.

I’ve had some money troubles lately.  A first for me.  I don’t like it.  I’m the type of person who always thinks ahead, always saves before making the purchase. I live within  my means.  But due to a wee bit of bad planning on my part, I over spent and now I am paying for my mistakes. Did you see what I did there? =)

I hate feeling poor. Though I’ve never been rich.  Always just right.  Even. Balanced.  Now I am unbalanced.   Teetering on the edge of a precipice of debt and I can’t quite see the bottom.

But not to worry.  I’ve made plans.  I’ve done a lot of math.  I’ve got a new credit card with 0% APR for 18 months, I’ll get it all straightened out soon.  I hope.  I am, after all, an optimist.

But if you see me in worn shoes, or in a frayed winter coat with missing buttons and a tear in one sleeve, please don’t tell me to “just go buy a new one.”  Not now.

Have you seen the movie Notting Hill?  You should, it is much more than a silly romantic comedy.  One of the themes of the movie is the idea of comparing your own troubles with the troubles of other people, and how completely unfair that is.

Perspective: the comparison of objects from a single point of view.    (my own simplified definition)

From the point of view of a stranger, my trifling money problems are embarrassingly insignificant compared to those of say,  a single mother of four who is trying to feed her family on food stamps, or that of a stock broker who’s just lost a lot of other people’s money.   But from my point of view, next months rent is the largest object in my sight.

It is unfair to say to me, “well, you have it better than most, you know.”  Yes, I know that. Of course, I know that. However, in my life, (the only life I will ever live,) the rent payment is more significant than any thing else.

My perspective is my only reality.  I can imagine other points of view, depending on the level of empathy I have with another person, but it is only imagination.

We are all just individuals with a single perspective.  By definition, those perspectives can never be the same, yet every one of them, including mine, is valid.

(Blogger note:  I’ve noticed one of the things that I love about other bloggers is the way they engage their readers by asking significant questions.  I’m not very good at that – but I want to try, so here it goes:)

What looms in your vision that other people might think insignificant?