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What can we do when we are full of complaint and grumblings about life?

Paul Stutzman, who biked a crossed the United States says:

I was miles from any town, complaining to myself about the wind and the heat, when I saw him coming toward me on the opposite shoulder of the highway.  He was in a motorized wheelchair, a breathing tube in his throat and an oxygen tank lying across his legs.  A brace held his head and neck immobile, and his arms were strapped tightly to the chair.  His body appeared locked in paralysis except for the fingers of his left hand, which lay on a toggle switch that operated the chair.

He could not turn his head left or right; yet as we passed, his eyes met and held mine for several seconds, and I knew I had met a hero.  How many of us in that situation would be sitting at home, wallowing in self-pity?  I had been grumbling about the weather, this man faced far more obstacles, yet here he was, zipping down Route 50.  I had no idea why he was trapped in this chair, but I did know how he had reacted to his lot in life.

There was actually another hero on the road that day too.  Behind the wheelchair came a rider on a bicycle, a person who was giving of his precious, allotted time to watch over the traveler.

So when you and I start to complain about the weather or our lives, maybe remembering the man in the wheel chair will put our troubles in perspective.

From:  Biking Across America, by Paul Stutzman, page 131.