A lot of people say that “Time heals all wounds,” and maybe that’s because time puts our
problems in perspective and forces us to see things differently.  Something that may seem
overwhelming at the moment may not be as big of a deal in a few short years, or even in a few
months.
As we get older, our perspective completely shifts, and we are able to see what is really
important in life and what is not. Brian McKnight, R&B singer songwriter, said “I just want
people to take a step back, take a deep breath and actually look at something with a different
perspective. But most people will never do that.” If we were to put the little things in life that
frustrate us into perspective, we would all be a lot happier.
When we were little, the smallest things would upset us. Going outside at recess in
elementary school to see that all of the swings were taken was enough to make tears well up in
our eyes and hate the sixth graders for life. Coming home and realizing that your older brother
had eaten the last chocolate chip cookie even though you had called it was the ultimate betrayal
that could never be forgiven. Even the daily fight with your parents about practicing the piano
was a matter of life or death. In the moment situations like these completely devastated our little
kid minds and made us believe that the world was crumbling around us. Even though these
issues weren’t important at all, at the time, it really mattered to us. Playing on the slides for once,
eating an oatmeal raisin cookie, or even a half hour of piano practice wasn’t going to kill us. As
we look back on those problems with more perspective about them, they are completely
insignificant and a little bit ridiculous.
As we get older, our perspective changes, as do the things that are important to us. We
are able to realize what really matters in life. Looking back at the things we cared about in
elementary school makes them seem unimportant and silly. Similarly, when we are older and
look back at the things we worried about in high school, we will again realize how ridiculous
many of them are. Despite this, these issues still mattered and were very real at the time. It is also
to note that not all of our problems we face in high school can be fixed with perspective. Some of
these problems are very real and very difficult to get through. Perspective is most effective in the
little everyday things of life. While we are in high school, there are a lot of things that we stress
about. Just a few of them include:  not getting a good grade on an especially difficult test, getting
cut from an extracurricular club or team, not getting asked to a dance, or even getting cut in the
lunch line at school. Different problems will always come up that make our old ones look
completely unimportant. In a few years when we are working two jobs to pay for college or
stressing about a mortgage payment, things from high school won’t matter anymore, and many
will become another memory that we can look back on and laugh at.
Even when we get frustrated, it is important to try and put them in perspective. A deep
breath and looking at the problem again at a new angle could change everything. It’s the little
struggles that we face every day that especially need to be looked at again. If we were able to put
all of our little problems in perspective, we would be a lot happier in life.