Biking along the hike 'n bike trail Tuesday night, I passed 11 sets of families jogging and walking, each pushing a young adult or preteen with varying degrees of physical disabilities. Each kid sat in a large 3-wheel jogging stroller; one dad was pedaling a bike as he pulled his son behind in a netted carrier.
I thought about how we over-focus on our tiny "burdens" - until we witness a scenario such as that - families carrying burdens ... real ones. Then ours might pale in comparison and we place it in a different perspective where it belongs. Sometimes our tiny burdens could be classified as mere whining. (We all can whine and complain like the best of them, right?)

Witnessing a true burden shuts us up quickly. One of my favorite perspective quotes is ...




Since those families were all on the trail simultaneously, perhaps they are in a support group or friendship. And I hoped that possibly they might have felt a little 'free' and a bit unburdened while enjoying the outdoors, family time, play time, time to smell honeysuckle wafting from the woods and feel the gentle tap-tap-tapping of gnats on their faces as they rolled along.

And maybe all 11 families being together on the trail - at their own paces - allowed the heavy daily burden of caring for a physically disabled human being to feel a little lighter ... unburdened that they were "in it" together and jointly participating in an activity. Perhaps operating as a unit helps them to feel not quite so all alone in the challenge they've been handed in life.

I would like to challenge you, snippeteers, as we get swept up in our dramatic tiny burdens - give them perspective. Ask yourself: "Is this a true burden? Or am I just whining?"