One of my favorite illustrations on perspective is something I heard from John C Maxwell. It’s in the form of a letter sent home by a girl in college.
It was as follows:
Dear Mom,
Since I have been away at college, one full semester, I think it’s time I bring you up to date as to what is going on. Shortly after I arrived at college, I got bored with dormitory life and stole fifty dollars from my roommate’s purse. With the money, I rented a motorcycle, which I crashed into a telephone pole a few blocks from the dorm.
I broke my leg in the accident, but I was rescued by the young doctor who lives upstairs in the apartment house on the corner. He took me in, set my leg, nursed me back to health, and thanks to him, I’m up and around again.
We wanted to let you know that we’re going to be married as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we’re having some trouble with the blood test-they’re not sure what the disease is, but it keeps showing up in the test. We hope to get that worked out quickly so that we’ll be married before the baby arrives. Shortly thereafter we will all be home to live with you and Dad. And I just know you will learn to love the baby as much as you love me, even though the baby’s dad is a different religion and wants us to convert. Please understand, the only reason we’re coming back home to stay is that my husband to-be got tossed out of medical school because he was too busy taking care of me to complete his work.
Really, Mom, I didn’t steal any money or rent a motorcycle or hit a telephone pole or break my leg. I didn’t meet a young doctor. There’s no disease and I’m not expecting a baby. And I won’t be coming home to live with you and Dad either. However, I am getting a D in algebra and an F in geology, and I wanted you to accept these grades in their proper perspective!
What did you learn from this …kindly leave your comments below.
Photo credit: Steven Scott
