My Daughter Dropped Her Pizza on MY Shoe
The other day my 10-year-old daughter dropped her pizza on MY shoe, while I was wearing my shoe of course. As we both looked down at the situation, she remarked, “hey, all good - it could’ve been much worse”. She was happy to see that her pizza had not hit the floor, nor turned upside down. She quickly scooped it up, looked it over briefly and then ate it right up, all with a smile on her face. Her positive attitude really helped me remain positive, despite the small pizza stain on my shoe.
The way she handled the situation reminded me of a children’s book on our shelf at home titled, “It Could Have Been Worse” by A.H. Benjamin and Tim Warnes. The book is about a little mouse who is returning home to his mother, after a day out exploring. On the way home he encounters some trouble. Each time he is faced with a situation he grumbles and complains “why me?”
Little Mouse is unaware that in each of the seven situations he faces in the book, things could’ve been much worse. For instance, as Little Mouse is walking across a field, he falls into a small hole at the exact moment that a huge bird swoops down to snatch him up. Little Mouse only knows that he fell in the hole. He doesn’t realize that right when he fell in the hole, the bird crashed into the ground, was dazed, and therefore unable to make the mouse his victim. His fate could’ve been much worse.
Later Little Mouse continues walking across the field and is soon followed by a fox. Just as the fox is about to bite Little Mouse, Mouse steps on a branch which then flips up into the air and knocks down a beehive in a nearby tree. Little Mouse complains about stepping on the branch because it hurt his foot. Little Mouse does not realize that the beehive fell on the fox, and the fox is no longer a threat to him because the fox is running from the bees.
I have read this book to my kids dozens of times and know it nearly by heart. Every time we read it, I remind myself that no matter if something “bad” happens in my day, usually things could be worse. For instance, during many Fall days in Wyoming, I wake up to frost on my car windows but it could be worse. Instead of warming up my car and scraping the windows, I could face icy roads, freezing winds and snow to shovel as well. So, I try to keep things in perspective.
I work with student-athletes at Western who really love playing their sport of course. Several years ago one of the women’s basketball players was sitting on the bench unable to play because of a sprained ankle. She was feeling sorry for herself and she was complaining. Then she noticed a gentleman sitting on the other side of the gym watching the game from his wheelchair. He attended almost all of our events and was an amazing fan. He had no legs. Even though her ankle hurt and she was disappointed about not playing, she realized her situation could’ve been much worse.
It’s a time to give thanks and remember that we are lucky for the things we do have - our family and friends, our jobs, our health and other things we sometimes take for granted, until we don’t have them anymore. I’m going to continue to remind myself of that when I find myself complaining about things that might not be going my way, because most likely they could be much worse. Here’s hoping you and yours enjoy each other and what you do have and don’t get too hung up on the things that definitely could’ve been worse.
Respectfully,
Dr. Lu Sweet
Western Athletic Director
