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Les Bloch: Things Could Be Worse

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It’s a cliché, but one well worth remembering. No matter how bad you think thing are, they could always be worse. Les Bloch has this Perspective.

I was out eating Chinese food with friends, and when the cookies came, my friend insisted we tag on “in bed” at the end of our fortunes while reading aloud. I’m not sure where this originated, but it definitely puts a new angle on the printed words stamped inside. Since the start of the pandemic, the challenges of life seem to have snowballed. It started with the insurrection, continued with financial uncertainty, a resurgence of Covid, divisive politics, new viruses, variants and bomb cyclones that have given me the feeling the end is near.

I’ve begun adding the tag “in Ukraine” to the end of almost every personally challenging situation. I don’t say it out loud. But when I think about all the things that have happened over the year, I realize that these physical challenges—the colds, coughs, flu, Covid, RSV—combined with financial and government strife-- are happening everywhere, during wartime, compounding the struggle for food, shelter and warmth. Gratefulness comes with acknowledgement: Yeah, things could be worse.

I have a friend John, an extraordinary drummer I met in high school, who became very successful and to this day, teaches and inspires thousands of drummers around the world through on-line videos and books on drumming and technique. Several years ago, he developed ALS and can no longer hold drumsticks or play his beloved instrument.  But he exudes every moment as a gift, projecting joy and peace like a light, even as he lies in bed with an oxygen mask. This obvious yet overlooked idea, that things can always be worse, is not lost on him. John brings this idea to life and seems more calm and happy than many of my more physically able friends.

So the next time I’m at a Chinese restaurant adding a tag line “in bed” to my fortune, I’ll think of John, knowing he’s smiling, happy that I’m getting it right. I don’t live in Ukraine, things could be so much worse, and this damn cold will be gone in a few days.
With a Perspective, I’m Les Bloch.

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