From the time I was a teenager, whenever I complained to my dad about something, he said “Well, it could be worse.” I always thought that was a negative thing to say.
Then when he was being treated for terminal throat cancer, I asked how he was doing, and he said “it could be worse.” I thought to myself, it doesn’t get much worse than this, so how could that be? That’s when he told me about the good things he focused on, like the fact that he was still around and he was getting good care.
Two months before he passed away, as my family was once again in his hospital room, he said to me “How did I get so lucky?” And I said “What do you mean?” His response was “how did I get so lucky to have such wonderful daughters and sons-in-law to look after me. I see some people in here who are all alone, but I am not.” I always remember my dad’s attitude right to the very end, and I think smile when I hear the phrase “it could be worse.”
Adele
It Could Be Worse