God forgive me when I whine

I found this poem and thought you would enjoy it as much as did.  Sometimes as we strive for big goals and dreams and come up short we become frustrated or for some even depressed.  High achievers can ride a roller coster of emotions if they base their happiness on their achievements rather than on the bigger picture of the person they're becoming through the process.  Don't lose sight of your dreams when this happens to you. 

By Og Mandino

Today upon a bus I saw a lovely girl with golden hair. I envied
her - she seemed so gay - and wished I were as fair. But suddenly
she rose to leave. I saw her hobble down the isle, she had only one
leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile…

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two legs, the world is mine.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold them had such charm. I
stopped to talk to him, he seemed so glad - if I was late could do
no harm. As I left he said to me, “I thank-you, you had been so
kind. It’s nice to talk to folks like you, you see,” he said, “I am
blind.”

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two eyes, the world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of
blue. He stood and watched the others play, he did not know what to
do. I stopped a moment and said, “Why don’t you join the others,
dear?” He looked ahead without a word and then I knew, he couldn’t
hear.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I have two ears, the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I go, with eyes to see the sun-set glow,
with ears to hear what I would know.

Oh, God forgive me when I whine,

I am blessed indeed, the world is mine!

Be persistent and never forget how blessed you are with what you've been given.  I once heard the actor, Michael J. Fox, discuss his experience with Parkinson's disease and he shared this story.  One day God called a meeting and brought a small group of people together.  Each had a problem that they were facing and God offered them the opportunity to put their problem in the middle of the room and exchange it with another person's problem.  After they each had laid their problem down and looked over all the other problems available they picked up their old problem and returned to their seat.  The moral of the story being that our problems really aren't that bad when compared to the suffering that others are dealing with.  This keeps it all in perspective.

Comments

[lizette]

I remember reading this poem when I was in 6th grade and feeling a tear stream down my check because this poem is so ture and sometimes some people, including myself, can be so ungrateful.

[Ganesh]

The poem is simple but pragmatic and excellent. We always wonder of achieving the happyness in those things which we don't possess, but the author has skillfully made the reader to feel the significance of simple invaluable things which we possess. I loved it.