My Trivial Complaints are Put In Perspective by One Special Boy

I've got a list. A big daily list of complaints. Nothing major, nothing really traumatic, but complaints all the same. The kind of complaints that make life just a little difficult. And after I tell you a brief summary, I’ll tell you why, I will never, EVER complain again.

My Top Four Complaints Before Noon Today

1.  I am tired of waking up to dirty dishes.  Always a sink full of dishes that I should have done the night before but wished upon a star that they’d disappear by morning.  Nope…still there and still dirty.

2.  I am tired of picking up wet towels, dry towels, soaking wet towels and having to wash them.  The funny thing is my kids still look dirty.  They are obviously using them for anything but a bath.

3.  I am sick of running to Target.  They know me by my first name.  I am there every day for something and it’s verging on embarrassing.

4.  I am tired of thinking of what to make for dinner.  I am out of ideas and to tell you the truth, no one even eats what I make.

You get the point. Little annoyances taht reapeat every day over and over. And over. But really, these are all easy tasks.  Easy breezy.  There is nothing here for me to complain about.  The only person I know who has a right to complain is the parent who gets up at 5am to keep her son alive.  That’s right.  I talked to  a woman last night who does just that.  Her name is Lisa Temple.

Lisa Temple was blessed with a son named Trey.  Trey’s 15 and a good buddy of my son, Max.  He has cystic fibrosis.  As Lisa explained it, cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes your lungs to get all “junked” up with mucus.  So, to keep the mucus from clogging Trey’s lungs and preventing him from breathing, Lisa gets up at 5am and starts a grueling routine of nebulizers and pills and breathing treatments and then a vest that literally shakes the mucus right from Trey’s lungs.  All of this is done before Trey starts school in the morning.  

Can you imagine?  While a lot of us are flitting around, making lunches and screaming up the stairs for the kids to hurry up and get dressed, Lisa has already been up for hours making sure her Trey is going to have the healthiest day she can possibly give him.  And, you know what, she would never complain.  In the 3 years I’ve known Lisa, she has not complained about anything.  Each day with Trey is a blessing.  Nothing will ever compare.  And, for her, there is not one single reason for her to complain.  She has her Trey.

It’s funny.  You talk to so many people each day.  You walk by so many.  You drive by so many.  But you never really know what they are carrying around in their hearts.  You usually only ever hear from the complainers.  They love to have listeners.  But the ones whose hearts are full and really know what matters in life, never would dare complain.   They have too much to be thankful for.  Having my life touched by someone, like Lisa Temple, who really gets it, really, really gets what it’s all about, has to be the biggest perk of all.

On August 27, feel free to join me and members of the community at Putt U to golf for cystic fibrosis. If you can't make it you can still donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.