You had a bad day

I'll be honest. There are days like today that are not good days. They don't usually make it into this blog because I really don't have much to complain about in the grander scheme of things.

Perfect example: Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire. Nothing that happened to me today - or ever - is in even the neighbourhood of what this man lived and witnessed. If nothing else, reading this book helps me keep a sense of perspective.

It's a captivating read, though sometimes hard to keep tabs on all the people and groups involved - but I just read to get the gist rather than keep tabs on who did what. It's a detailed account of the failures of political will on multiple fronts for groups, nations, and the UN to step beyond their own self-interest, resulting in the massacre of 800,000 innocents in Rwanda.

Dallaire is a true Canadian hero. I think he's something of a broken man now, suffering still from post-traumatic stress disorder, but I really hope he finds some peace and some good days.

Fortunately, I am still in a situation where I can trust that the good days will vastly outnumber the kinda-crappy-but-it-could-be-much-much-worse days.