why do you read that?

theMr frequently gets to hear all about the other blogs i read. probably many more details than he'd care to hear! frequently at night he watches movies while i read on the laptop. often he'll see me get really emotional about some of the things i'm reading and he'll ask why i read it. i read it because i need frequent reminders that my life is pretty easy in comparison to many others. that my kids are a walk in the park in comparison to what others are going through. like when i read my cousin Lora's carepage for her baby, Mya. and i cry on updates like today's that she had to be intubated again after their second attempt to take her off a ventilator. seeing the pictures of that sweet four month old baby fighting for her life. it reminds me to not be quite so frustrated with my own baby not sleeping at night. i bet lora would give anything right now to be at home dealing with a teething baby instead of watching her own little one struggle with an uncertain future. i read a blog called profoundly seth about a woman who lost one child and is raising her other four alone, two of which with health issues. her husband just left one day. while she was pregnant with their fifth child. it reminds me to be thankful for my husband even though he leaves his dirty laundry everywhere. i'd miss that laundry if he was gone. ok, maybe not the laundry but definitely him :) i could go on and on of people who are struggling to keep their homes, their jobs, their children or their lives. they are watching their babies struggle to breath. they are holding their spouses hand while cancer eats at their bodies. they are living the aftermath of a natural disaster. they have watched all their belongings disappear before their very eyes. it puts in perspective my frustration at the constant cleaning and cooking required of me. i guess i just need a constant reminder how blessed i am. how much worse it could be. how even on my darkest days i have a husband and a family and a home and the things i need. i even get to have many things i just want. it's a good check for my bad attitude. and i need that.