....reflections on a broken down car

maybe you looked up at the moon tonight and thought it was as beautiful and breathtaking as i did.  maybe you looked up at it in the middle of a minor break down over a broken-down car, just like i did. and if you did, i hope you found comfort in the idea that the world is so much bigger than our individual problems. i hope it made you remember that problems can be solved and that worry never changes the outcome of a situation.my car break lights went out earlier this week and in an effort to try and fix them, i seemingly messed up my car's engine and battery. and so i sat there in the middle of a parking lot, next to the sushi restaurant i had just ate at, being overly dramatic about my minor mishap.  it's hard to be mad though when the moon is so beautiful.  when the wonder of the stars pale in comparison to it. it's not that the moon reminded me that my problems are smaller and less severe than other people's, or that somewhere out there someone is wishing they had a car.  both are true of course, but that's not what this moment was about.  you see, i've never liked the use of the statement or idea that "someone has it worse than you" or "somebody else would love to have your problems."  trust me, i get the intent of the statement- and i understand that they are reminders to be grateful.  it's just that i have never been able to understand how someone else's greater suffering is supposed to bring me comfort.  there is something unsettling to me about feeling better about my life because someone has it worse.  that doesn't make me feel better, it makes me feel more sad.in every day situations like today where i tend to make a bump in the road feel like an avalanche caving it, i don't gain perspective by placing my story next to someone else's.  i place my story right along side the journey i've taken to get here.  i let myself get happy in the same way i let myself get sad.  i remember that there is more to my life than a car with no break lights and a non-working engine.   i don't like to compare setbacks or other people's pain.i'd rather just take the situation for what it is and how it fits into my world, and then move forward.