As Bad As It Is… Someone Is Doing Worse. ....Finding Perspective Without Dismissing Your Pain

Jascey Cents
Jun 30
3 min read

By Jacent Voigt founder of JasceyCents

There are days you wake up with a lump in your throat and a knot in your chest. The kind of days where everything feels fragile like your whole life could crack if one more thing goes wrong. You sit on the edge of your bed, staring at the floor, wondering how much longer you can keep pretending everything’s fine. Maybe the bills are piling up. Maybe your body is exhausted. Maybe your heart just feels… tired.

And then you remember. Someone out there is waking up on a dirt floor, praying the roof doesn’t leak when the rain comes. Someone is nursing a sick child with no access to medical help. Someone has not had a full meal in three days. Someone is battling depression in silence because in their culture, no one believes in mental illness.

It’s not a comparison. It’s a mirror.

And guess what?

You are still standing. You are still able. You are still here.

It’s easy to get lost in our own pain it’s real and it matters. But perspective gives us the gift of context. Not to guilt us, but to anchor us.

Perspective Isn’t Comparison, It’s Compassion

One time, I cried on the train for ten minutes straight after a long day at work where I felt completely invisible and misuderstood. I drove home numb, ashamed for being so sensitive, asking myself why I couldnt let it go.

But that same night, while walking home, I passed a woman on the corner with three kids and a sign that said, "Anything helps. We lost everything in the fire."

I didn’t have much to offer. So instead I walked away in tears. Not just for her but because in that moment, I remembered I still had a home to walk into.

Another time, I stood in a grocery store line with just enough money for only bread and eggs. When my credit card was declined, I laughed nervously, pretending it was a glitch, a technical issue. I walked out empty handed and sat on the curb, crying so hard I couldn’t breathe.

Across the street, a woman was digging through a public trash bin with a toddler on her hip smiling, singing softly to keep the baby calm.

I cried again. Again, not just for me.

That’s what perspective does. It shifts the lens. It invites grace. It makes room for more than one

truth.

You’re allowed to be tired, to feel disappointed, to wish things were easier. But when you pause and see someone else enduring something unimaginable, your spirit softens. You begin to hold space for them, and for yourself.

We reflect. We breathe deeper. We remember our own strength.

Gratitude in the Grit

Gratitude doesn’t mean you’re always smiling. It doesn’t mean pretending life is perfect. It just means recognizing that even in the middle of the mess, something is still working in your favor.

The friend who called when you were drowning in silence.
The stranger who smiled at you on a hard day.
The breath you just took without even noticing it was a gift.

One woman I know lost her job, her partner, and her apartment within six months. I asked her how she was surviving. She looked me in the eye and said, "Because I still have my faith. Because I still wake up. Because I still choose to hope."

That kind of strength? It humbles you.

You Can Hold Two Truths

Things are hard.
And you are still blessed.

...and still be grateful for what’s left. You can wish for a different path and still respect the one you’ve had to walk. You can want rest and still show up, softly, gently, imperfectly.

So the next time life feels like too much, whisper this to yourself:

“Someone else is surviving something I might not be able to carry. I honor their strength and I honor mine too.