Perspective

Perspective. That's a really important word, isn't it? Yes.

Today I walked over to the Student Center for an omelet. Ball State should be renowned for its omelets. Seriously, they're SO good. And they're good for you. They're also only $2.16. Yep. Awesome. Anyway, I went over to get an omelet and saw a blind man with his dog eating alone. I couldn't stop watching him for a few reasons 1.) I'd not seen him around before and the campus is pretty quiet in the summer 2.) I love dogs and they always catch my attention. His dog was peacefully sitting at his side (not begging like my incredibly cute puppy is as I blog and eat dinner- HA!). The man was using his fingers to know how much food was left on his plate, used touch to find his orange juice bottle and wash down his meal. Then he looked a little confused. I realized that he didn't know where to take his tray and trash to so I rushed over. I said, "You're all finished! Let me take your tray for you." He looked up and said, "Bless you, thank you. Please recycle my orange juice bottle!" I melted. I told him I would certainly recycle and wished him a good day. My omelet was ready and I was checking out when the cashier told me she saw the exchange. "You know, I would have cleared his tray later," she told me. I casually said, "He did not know that and looked concerned. You couldn't see his face from your perspective, but I could so I just took care of it." She just smiled at me and said, "Perspective is certainly everything, isn't it?" I agreed.

I share the above story not to pat myself on the back. I just thought it was a beautiful illustration of perspective. In this case I just happened to see the big picture. I don't always; that is for sure. He also gave me some perspective on my work day. I'd been feeling bad for myself because all my co-workers are on vacation and I'm a little overwhelmed by a project I've been working on. Seeing him eating breakfast all by himself in an unfamiliar place that he couldn't even see made me realize that I needed to suck it up. That I have things pretty darn good (because I do) and get to work. I did just that and I got a ton accomplished today.

I hope he knows that he was important to me because he was. He was my definition of brave.