At some point for most of us, the biggest problem in our lives was getting a driver's license. We studied our state handbooks, we terrorized our parents as we practiced, we worried about passing the test.
Those worries were a long time ago. We barely remember them, and certainly don't worry about that particular problem. It was huge then, but it is nothing now.
So many of the things we worry about right now seem so big, but a week from now, or a month or a year from now, we will barely remember them. Remember the scene in Apollo 13 where the men use the tiny Earth in the window as a means of guidance? Near the end, Tom Hanks says, "the world is getting pretty big in the window…" and they had to deal with that.
The nearer we are to our troubles, the worse they seem. Distance – in time and in space – gives them perspective, and most of them are smaller than they seem. Our attitude helps determine some of that distance. Remember, no matter how big the planet looks in the window, chances are it's not the end of the world.
