You Think You've Got it Bad

In the Tree house: You Think You’ve got it Bad

By: Samantha Stroube Daviss

You know it’s funny that old saying, that things in life are all relative to the person going through the event or situation.  And it is so true; there are some things in life that affect each of us in different ways. But I have to tell you, there are some things that seem so small and trivial to some, but may be of an unremitting magnitude to someone else.

But sometimes you really do need to step back, or have an out of body experience, and really evaluate what is upsetting you or bothering you at that very moment. I know when I feel blue, or get down in the mouth about something, I really have to pick myself up by the boot straps and reevaluate what is important.

I don’t know if you know who J.R. Martinez is, but he is absolutely amazing. At 19 years old he went off to war, full of pride, gusto, and a heart of steel. And one faithful day, his Hum-V was blown up, burning over 80% of his body. You probably recognize his name as one of the finalists on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, last season. He is the most inspirational person I have ever seen.

For having gone through such a tragedy, the man returned from war completely disfigured, and decided he would make the best of a horrible, horrible situation. And he did just that. He is now a motivational speaker, and probably the most positive, happy human being I have ever seen. I watched him on DWTS (Dancing with the Stars); and not only was he a talented dancer, but just a kind human being all the way through to his core. The type of person I can only hope one day to aspire to emulate. He was friendly to all, always smiled, and cheered on his competitors with such compassion; you could tell that his every move and action was genuinely sincere.

If there is nothing else in the world, I hope that one day everyone can be as kind and sincere as J.R. Martinez. To share the world and this little place we call earth with a few more smiles and a lot less anger and malice.

So when you are feeling down, or your feelings are hurt, or you don’t feel well and you just want that stomach bug to go away so you can get back to normal, think about some of the pain and anguish that J.R. must have gone through to gain “normalcy” back in his life.

And as far as things getting back to normal, what if you had something so tragic in your life happen that you will never be back to “normal”, so to speak, but you won’t go down without a fight? That is the inspiration and footprint that Gabrielle “Gabby” Gifford has left on my heart. With the tragedy that she endured, and the fact that she is even alive, let alone able to sit upright, speak, write and progressively gaining full function of all motor skills, is a miracle in itself.

A few months ago, I watched an interview with her and her husband, and even though at that point her thoughts and vocabulary were extremely limited, just the smile on her sweet face, the love and commitment her husband had for her, and her will to fight and bring normalcy back into her life was a true turning point in my life.

As I have said before, I am only human, I am not numb to the outside world; there are goings on that occur that hurt my feelings, or things happen that may not go exactly as I planned, but when I find myself getting too wrapped up in the petty stuff of daily life, I make myself step back and look at the big picture…

I am happy, healthy, have beautiful children to raise, a loving husband, great friends, and a wonderful family. I haven’t had to fight in a war where I came back with over 80% of my body burned, my freedom is a gift that I never take for granted that those souls hand to me on a silver platter, and I thank them every single day; and I have never been giving a speech, where I was shot in the head and wasn’t sure I was going to survive; and now fighting to bring my life back to some semblance of what it used to be.

For the most part I lead a fairly simple life, my contribution to the world is diminutive, but I love every minute of it, and I try to not allow myself to get too tangled up in or upset by “sweating the small stuff”.