Each one of us has an opportunity to affect the lives of others and the moods of people around us. One day last week I met with two Christian pastors in the hopes of developing a local interfaith clergy council. We met at an African American church and a few congregants of one of the pastors also attended. I was introduced to a woman whose eyes sparkled. She was happy to be alive and happy to be part of something greater than herself. She had pep in her walk, a smile on her face and she asked me to guess how old she was. I refused because I learned a long time ago one never guesses the age or weight of a woman. She insisted and so I pulled a number out of the air and said 67. She near floored me when she said she was 80. Later that day I met with someone who had suffered a great loss; a close relative had died. The mourner was grieving and hurting. Nothing I said or did would be able to replace the beloved relative or remove the anguish from a broken heart. Yet this grieving individual, through the tears, was able to say that the life of this loved one had come to a peaceful and final conclusion. In the midst of tears and sorrow was some sense of satisfaction and appreciation. An 80 year old explained that her husband had died 8 years ago. She made a choice to get up every day with a smile on her face and a smile in her heart. This grieving person could easily have made a choice to have fallen into a pit of despair and anguish, but instead he chose to appreciate the blessings of life which his relative had enjoyed. I left each of those encounters with a new appreciation for the power of perspective. The 80 year old woman who some aches and pain and had lost her husband uttered these words to me; “Every day is a blessing.” The mourner said words to the effect of “Life was lived and love was shared.” How much better would all of our days be if we shared these two perspectives?