It is not unusual to get bent out of shape, become angry, and to express our frustrations when things don’t go as planned. We do this when a potential client doesn’t select us for an assignment, when someone says something negative about us, our companies or people we care about, and in many more situations.

When we are presented with frustrating news and situations, we often forget to keep things in perspective. An incident this past weekend reminded me about the importance of perspective.

Due to very heavy snow fall and rain in Chicago, many areas experienced flooding. The neighbors immediately next to our house were out of town - we called them to let them know about the flooding and to see if they had someone check their house. They already knew about the flooding. It turns out that they were visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and just as they had completed their visit, they received a call from their home alarm company reporting about the flooding and letting them know that their basement had more than a foot of standing water.

Our neighbor’s basement was ruined completely, but it paled in comparison to what they saw during their visit to the Holocaust Museum. The news about the flooding certainly wasn’t good, but when put in perspective, it wasn’t much.

I am not suggesting that you ignore frustrating news and situations. But when you presented with such news and situations, keep things in perspective.