A change in perspective is a magical thing. It can stand your world on its head in an instant. Nothing at all has changed, except the way you think. Still, everything has changed.

But you can’t keep perspective. Your brain won’t let you. Because the brain has too many inputs and too many things to do, it puts as many jobs on autopilot as possible.

It works all night to absorb the new information of the day and piles it under a heading called “normal.” And we don’t have to think about what is “normal” so we can move on to important things. Another way to say it is:

What we see everyday, we don’t see at all.

But while our brains are moving on, some good things get overlooked. We can’t see everything or appreciate all that we have until we gain perspective. Then suddenly we can see.

Last Thursday I got perspective on time and life when Suzie had to head for the ER. By the time we got home, home never looked better. Our “normal” lives were suddenly visible.

We were grateful for things like deep breaths, heartbeats and a lack of pain. Life is really good.

Here’s my attempt to communicate that perspective without having to worry about insurance deductibles. It takes one minute . . .

 

If you didn’t spend the day here then you have something to celebrate. I know I do.

Yesterday I got a better perspective from Lois Holder. She lost everything she owned in a hurricane . . . three times!

Few people probably remember Hurricane Betsy in 1965 but it was just below a Category 5 storm when it destroyed Lois’ home.

It’s odd looping path took it across Florida before slamming into Grand Isle, La. leaving a massive trail of destruction.

It was the first U.S. hurricane to cause more than a billion dollars in damage inspiring the nickname “Billion Dollar Betsy.”

Here’s some 8mm film of the aftermath:

By 2005 Lois was living mortgage free in a home in Slidell, Louisiana when Category 3 Katrina breached the levees and blew Lake Pontchartrain into her neighborhood. Again, she lost it all. Though it was weaker than “Betsy”, it was one of the deadliest and costliest storms in U.S. history.

Hurricane Isaac this year may have barely reached Category 1 but because of its large size Lacombe Bayou rose four feet into her house and took away everything but a few pictures.

It would seem easy to get discouraged or bitter about it all but what does 85-year-old Lois Holder have to say?

“I may have lost everything but they can’t take away my God and they cannot take away my integrity.”

Now that’s perspective. If Lois can survive three hurricanes, losing everything over and over again, and still manage to keep that smile, maybe I won’t complain about not finding a close parking space tomorrow.

Here’s more info on Lois Holder from my friends at Northshore Church in Slidell.

 

New Orleans photo by NOAA Photo Library via Flickr