The Bologna Blog

Perspective

I was reminded, once again, that perspective provides focus for the little moments in life. As my husband and I were traveling home from a family reunion we were stopped by an unusually long train. Both of us being hot and tired, wanted nothing more than to get home. We sat in silence watching the train for a few moments, before I remembered an earlier time in our lives where being stopped by a train was a momentous occasion. I turned to him and said, "Do you remember how much fun we used to think trains were?" I could see by his smile that he knew exactly what I was talking about and we laughed at our memories.
My oldest son was a nut about anything having to do with trains when he was little, probably from age 18 months to 9 years old. Thomas the Tank engine was played on the TV constantly and he owned every metal engine they came out with, always being the only thing he asked for on birthdays. Anytime we went for a drive the boy would pray that we would get stopped by a train. We had to allow extra time just in case we did get stuck. He would pop his head against the window and describe each car that passed by, giving us the specs and informing us of what they were carrying. Sometimes he would make up stories about the people on the train.Even the littler kids enjoyed listening to him describe the trains.

So this week, perspective allowed us to sit calmly and patiently, enjoying the time spent in a car while watching a train go by.
So much stress in our lives would melt away if we allowed ourselves to gather the perspective of a child.