As I sat on a bag of frozen corn Saturday afternoon, I had to laugh. And then of course I had to share.

You know how sometimes things seem bad and unfair and you just feel sorry for yourself? Last week I came down with a cold right in the middle of this crazy busy holiday rush. I got behind on my orders because I had to stay out of my lab, so by the time the weekend came I was feeling pretty stressed and miserable. I was still stuffed up and had a headache, but felt like I really needed to get caught up, so I was puttering (and muttering) and doing more than I probably should have been. As I was carrying an armload of things down my office steps, I slipped, landed right on my butt, and fell the rest of the way to the ground.

My immediate thought was, “That will really hurt tomorrow.” The next thought was, “Thank goodness I didn’t break an arm. (I didn’t break an arm, did I? Nope, thank goodness I didn’t break an arm.)” And my last thought before I stood up was, “That’s what you get for whining.”

A few minutes later as I froze my butt with my “ice pack,” I thought about how minor my cold (virus) really was. Having a stuffed up head is uncomfortable, yes, and a headache is no fun. But my husband’s cousin sits in a hospital recovering after being hit by a car last week. And my aunt spent a few nights in the ER this weekend with pain they couldn’t control. A few bruises (especially big ones) were a good reminder to quit my whining—and not just because Santa is watching.

Because most of the time, life is pretty good (for me, anyway). And because things could always, always be worse. I’m going to try to remember that next time.

I’m also gonna watch that last step. It’s a doozy!