I wish I had your struggle

Remember that saying, "your trash is another person's treasure"? This is true now more than ever. The idea is not that there are a bunch of people waiting to pick through your garbage. It means that something you have right now could be quite valuable to someone else, even if it irks you.

I've been thinking about this a lot as we are quarantined and I'm spending far too much time on social media. Of course people are stressed. Of course it feels good to vent. Of course your feed should be filled with accurate reflections of what you think and how you feel.

But before you publicly post that next complaint, consider this:

• When your kids are driving you crazy because you're all stuck in the house together, someone else wishes they could be at home with their kids. 
• When you dread going to work, someone else wishes they had a job. 
• When you feel cooped up in your house. someone else wishes they had a safe place to stay. 
• When your partner/roommate gets on your nerves, someone else wishes they didn't live alone. 
• When you get annoyed about having to work from home, someone else wishes they had the resources to work from home. 
• When you or your child has to miss their birthday celebration, someone else is dying in a hospital from this virus and will have no more birthdays. 
• When you vent about your vacation getting cancelled and you're forced to stay home, someone else wishes they had the option to stay home and avoid exposure. 
• When you complain about your favorite restaurant being closed, someone else wishes they had enough food. 

This isn't a pompous reminder to be grateful for all you have. Of course you are grateful for what you do have. And you are entitled to feel frustration and temporary disappointment for certain. This is just a gentle caution to consider your audience when you express what irks you right now. Someone might read your struggle and wish it was theirs.