I believe in focusing more on the forest not the trees. I believe that getting caught up in the petty details of life takes away from the overall beauty of life. I believe that life is good and beautiful. I believe that every day is a gift. Getting caught up in the details detracts from this beauty. A person doesn’t look at a painting close up, instead he or she stands back to look at the whole picture. This is how I see the world. Standing too close, I only see the minute details, the imperfections, the trees. Instead I must stand back and look at the big picture, the forest, to truly realize how lucky I really am.
When my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a disease where your immune system attacks itself, all my family and I could see was the trees, the details in our life that were going to change. My brother and I would have to take on more responsibility. My dad would have to spend more time at home. My mom would have to work less and go on disability.
What we failed to understand was we were all going to be okay. All we could see were the trees, and this crippled us as a family. We had to change our perspective. We did this, and we became a stronger family. We came together. We realized that we were stronger than we thought we were.
Changing our perspective did not cure my mother. She still has Multiple Sclerosis, and it is not getting any better, in fact, it is getting worse. But not getting stressed over the little things, made her disease more manageable. It is just one facet that makes up our family; it is not the “big picture”.
I believe in looking at the forest, not the trees. Getting caught up in the trees distracts me from what I do have, a wonderful family. Yes, there have been hardships, but when I look at the forest, the big picture; I know that the world is good. I know that everything will be okay, and I know that I will get by. I look at the forest and I see that I have my health, and I have the love of my family and friends. What could be more beautiful than that?