Things don't seem so bad any more.

I think I tick off people who feel sorry for themselves. People in depression. Or people going through hard times. Rather than just listening to them and their stories of woe and unhappiness, I tend to try to shift the focus. Maybe to something that's going right in their lives. And all they want is for someone to listen. Someone to hear them out. To commiserate. Guess I handle others pretty much the way I deal with myself. If I'm on a downer, I've learned to put things in balance. In perspective. I ask myself, am I 'down' because of a life or death situation? And 99 percent of the time, it isn't. That buoys my spirits. Things don't seem so bad any more. --Jim Broede