If you were standing at the bottom of a skyscraper looking up, the thing would appear huge! And if you were flying at 30,000 feet in an airplane looking down on the skyscraper that same skyscraper would appear very tiny. It all depends on your perspective. When you are overwhelmed with problems and trouble, what you need is some perspective. I don't know about you, but I have the tendency to feel as though what I'm going through is the end of the world. The truth is: it's not. And nothing can help you realize that more than a healthy dose of perspective. So how do you get perspective? Here's three suggestions:
1) Make a list. I recently made a list all the things that were overwhelming me. By making a list I tend to find that the number of problems really aren't as many as I think. Writing them down helps me to see that. This immediately helps me start feeling better.
2) Focus on someone who is going through more than you are. One time when I was overwhelmed by problems I started thinking about a biography I read by former President George W. Bush. On his list of problems was 9/11, war in Afghanistan, war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the AIDS epidemic, etc. When I compared his list with my list I immediately felt lest stressed.
3) Spend some time in prayer. When we deal with problems on our own, we are at the bottom of the skyscraper looking up at the huge problem. When we pray, we are flying in a plane looking down on a tiny problem. Why? Because when we pray God gives us his perspective. And from where he is sitting all the problems look tiny.
Our problems are often much smaller than we make them out to be. So next time you're feeling overwhelmed, try and get some perspective. It's powerful and I know it will help.
