Learning From Perspective

Life is funny. In my case, how heart problems affect my life is funny. They have both subtly and not so subtly shaped my entire life. I have always had heart problems so I don’t know what it’s like to live without them. But, I can speak about what it is like to live with heart problems. Throughout my younger years I spent a lot of time on the sidelines because I could not physically keep up with all the other kids. This was hard for me. As I watched all my friends do what I could not, being healthy became the one thing I always wanted.

Heart problems can be dealt with in many ways. Some people do their best to hide from them. This approach will only cause internal turmoil by conditioning yourself to be afraid of your own medical problems. Others take the trials head on. From my experience, this is the best way to deal with heart problems.

A positive head on approach to heart problems is not by “learning to live with” heart problems, but rather, “having the opportunity to live with” heart problems. Medical challenges provide one a unique perspective on life that can completely change the way you view the world. They create a lens through which you can see the world from a rare perspective. This perspective for me often comes through the activities I participate in. For me, this perspective allowed me to learn a valuable lesson about what is most important to me in my life. I learned that when you can’t do all that you want to do, you will do what you know you should do.

Growing up with heart problems was a unique experience. Though I was never able to participate in all the activities I would have liked, I was able to do all the things that were important to me. Within my religion I was able to do everything that others could do. I came to see that although I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do, I was able to do everything I knew I needed to do.

When the World is Pushing you Down

As I learned how fragile life was, I became aware of how I could better control my life. As we learn what is in our control, we will see more clearly what is not in our control. Focusing on the things that are in our control will let us push off the worldly matters that are pushing us down and thereby enable us to succeed by doing what we can.  

I remember when I was 10 years old. Most adults would make comments that kids thought they were invincible, and they did. Kids thought they they could never die and so they would act like maniacs. That was not me, I knew that life was fragile. Going through so many medical operations changes a child’s  perception of life. Because I had been so close to losing my life, I knew that I could easily die. There were nights where I went to bed wondering if I would wake up in the morning because my perspective on life was that it is short.

It's all about perspective.

Another perspective on life develops when we feel a responsibility for our success. While it is true that we are responsible for our success, the outcomes of our life are not solely dependent upon our behavior. With all the things we need to do and many more things we should do, life can often become overwhelming. Calendars, to-do lists, and reminders help to keep us on track but still we can often feel that there is still so very much left to do. This is another perspective issues.

Because God has a perfect plan for us, all we need to do is the best we can. Once we have done everything in our power, we need to leave the rest up to him. In life, when we feel that life is pushing us down, we should remember that we are only required to do that which we can. What is out of our control is just that, out of our control.