The World is Mine
Today upon a bus I saw a girl with golden hair; She seemed so gay, I envied her, and wish that I were half so fair; I watched her as she rose to leave, and saw her hobble down the aisle. She had one leg and wore a crutch, but as she passed—a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I have two legs—the world is mine.
Later on I bought some sweets. The boy who sold them had such charm, I thought I’d stop and talk awhile. If I were late, t’would do no harm. And as we talked he said, “Thank you, sir, you’ve really been so kind.
It’s nice to talk to folks like you because, you see, I’m blind”
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I have two eyes—the world is mine
Later, walking down the street, I met a boy with eyes so blue. But he stood and watched the others play; it seemed he knew not what to do. I paused, and then I said, “Why don’t you join the others, dear?” But he looked straight ahead without a word, and then I knew, he couldn’t hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I have two ears—the world is mine.
Two legs to take me where I go, Two eyes to see the sunset’s glow, Two ears to hear all I should know,
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine; I’m blest, indeed, the world is mine.
—Unknown
I believe that we are all guilty of whining. The complaining we do about little things in life that irritate us and sometimes slow us down. In some cases it is the little things that others do that irritate us, our spouses, our children, and even our neighbors. Why is it so? Usually we are irritated when we are not happy with ourselves and the way things seem to be going for us. Rather than make corrections in those things that aren’t going well, we take it out on others in our lives. Patience and understanding are such gigantic virtues when we stop and think about it. As an old man, I have much more of them than I did when a youth. I have always been in a hurry with so many things to do (in my mind). But as age started slowing me down, I realize that I have time to be more patient. Self evaluation is more common as well. I take more time to listen to others (even their whining) in some cases. I believe the most important change has been in my compassion for those who are old (like me). Those who are blind and cannot see, those who are crippled and have trouble getting around, and those who are deaf and cannot hear.
The other day I made a major error by showing impatience toward my wife and sweetheart of over 60 years. She wanted to share a story with me, and I was in the middle of doing something else, so rather than stop and listen patiently to her story, I kept nudging my way toward toward the other room and my project. She realized I didn’t want to give her of my time so she became hurt and said,
“Oh! Just go on and do your thing, you are not interested in what I want to share.” Then of course I was repentant and tried to back things up, but it was too late. Thank goodness for ‘time’ because it heals all and the next day we were OK once again. Do you think that I will make that mistake again—I hope not.
Whining is unbecoming a grown person, repair or avoid the things that make us whine before we start—an adult whiner changes his status as an adult to that of a youth who got the smallest piece of cake. At least momentarily. Self evaluation, on a daily basis, may reduce our amount of whining, evaluation in terms of how we stack up with others, others who may have a legitimate reason to whine but do not, such as the blind deaf and crippled. When two whiners are together they often both lose out as the following story shows; “A TRAVELER hired an Ass to convey him to a distant place. The day being intensely hot, and the sun shining in its strength, the Traveler stopped to rest, and sought shelter from the heat under the Shadow of the Ass. As this afforded only protection for one, and as the Traveler and the owner of the Ass both claimed it, a violent dispute arose between them as to which of them had the right to the Shadow. The owner maintained that he had let the Ass only, and not his Shadow. The Traveler asserted that he had, with the hire of the Ass, hired his Shadow also. The quarrel proceeded from words to blows, and while the men fought, the Ass galloped off.” In whining we often lose the substance.