Perspective

Isn't this such a great picture series! I snapped the one in the middle first. To look at it one would assume Belle had drapped herself in a large piece of fabric. Upon turning around you can see that it's actually one of Nick's shirts, (the first pic), and at the end all the effort it took for that big shirt to stay on that little body. It got me thinking about perspective and how the same things can look different to different people, or even the same people at different times. When Nick wears this shirt it is definitely short sleeves and barely reaches his belt! What a crazy difference.

I had the delight of meeting a guy named Craig who is now one of our Church Elders. He is so totally fun, one of those folks that people are drawn to. Our conversations started initially because he's a pilot and I wanted to know more about his "exotic" jet setting lifestyle. He was at my dinner table one night and somehow the conversation got to Bowflex. He owns one, Nick wants one, I still need convincing. In that conversation he quipped some stats and related the fact that both me and him are obese. He is a typical movie pilot. The ones that look fit and trendy. I am a little cushy around the edges and can only wear my pre-pregnancy jeans if I'm not going to be sitting or eating, but neither one of us would initially be classified as obese.

After that conversation I was thinking about perspective. When I say the word obese I picture people who need their front walls removed in order to leave their house. I might even think of Ms. Wilson pre surgery or some of the larger Biggest Loser contestants. I would not have put myself in that group. To put myself in that group changes how I feel when I hear some stat stating that 80% of our country is obese. Before this conversation I would have thought there's no way that 80% of our country is obese, I'm sure 80% of our country isn't in the front wall removal category. It sure takes it home to put myself there. To realize that if I loose 30 pounds that number will go down, (even if just a small decimal), that I'm part of that statistic.

I wonder what other stats I defer from as other people's problems or which ones I think I belong to when I actually don't. Perspective really does color everything, and even I see many shades.