Perspective
If you’ve read my first post in the “Roger” story, you’re probably thinking, “Wow, this dude is crazy”. I would say you’re probably not too far off, and if you keep reading, you’ll read a log more interesting stories from my life. Before I get into the stories, though, I thought it best to introduce you a little bit to my worldview and outlook on life.
As part of “The Cat Calls Me Roger” story, you’re going to read about cancer, broken bones, chronic illness and many other ups and downs through my life. I write them down now because my kids have asked me to. They’re often amazed that I’ve gone through some of the things I have and can laugh about them the way I do.
In part, I am this way because my Christian faith teaches me that I am never alone. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is always walking with me on this journey called life. In times of trouble, I need only reach out, take his hand and let him guide me. Through times of good fortune, I need to thank him for his many blessings. Needless to say, that faith doesn’t always come easy. There have been many times where I couldn’t see a good outcome in the midst of trouble, but I know, looking back, that He’s been there every step of the way. He’s guided me back and shown me the way no matter what bad choices I’ve made.
On the other hand, I’ve generally always had an optimistic view of life (though not so much so with the world) and find humor in much of what has happened to me. There have been many times through my life where the weight of life has seemed so overwhelming that I couldn’t see a way out, but looking back on them as one might a movie, there has always been some humor or joy to be found in nearly any situation.
To illustrate this, I have to take you all the way back to when I was in 3th grade (I was 8 years old). I have always been an avid reader, reading whatever I could get my hands on. In 3rd grade, I was introduced to weekly readers and I was always drawn to the science and technology section of the magazines. It was then that I learned:
- A Japanese scientist determined that the human brain only had so much storage capacity. Once an individual reached that capacity, he/she would have to forget something remembered to learn/remember something new. My 8 year old mind decided NEVER to memorize anything–and I struggled mightily with that until I was in my early 30s.
- Laughter was the best medicine. By laughing, it had been shown, people were healthier and more equipped to deal with illness or injury.
#2 is something I’ve carried with me all my life and it was put to test when I was 11 and my brother (10 at the time) was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was probably still too young to understand the implications or magnitude of his illness, but I did know one thing: Laughter cured everything! And so, it was at that time, that I took it upon myself to ALWAYS try to make those around me laugh–especially my little brother.
As you can imagine, being the clown of the family hasn’t always been easy and I’ve learned many tough lessons along the way. However, humor and a light-hearted approach to life has generally served me well as you’ll soon read!
With this, I challenge you to think about how you would approach different situations in your life. Can you find ANY humor in those situations? What has worry and/or fear gained you?