Its probably all a matter of perspective, but oftentimes life seems less than equitable.

Having grown up in Wallowa County, the phrase life is a bitch and then you die was not stated uncommonly. Some would laugh subtly when those words were spoken while others might nod in agreement.

Which is all well and good, but the sun rose brightly this morning to give us yet another chance to view this life in a brighter light.

Only days ago, I spoke with a young lady who said, until recently, she loathed the thought of arising from bed and hammering through another day. But now her eyes are bright, laughter is an ally, and she willingly shares her gifts with others. She and her beloved husband arent tipping the worlds financial scales one direction or the other, but what they do have, they say, is of far more worth.

She calls it hope.

Theres a cliché that speaks of viewing a glass as half-full or half-empty.

And maybe such simplicity, if applied to our personal perspectives on life, can tip the scales away from bad to good days.

Some think, if there is a God, that Hes cruel because He gave us free will. Why not make everything perfect, make all the right choices for us, and leave us alone to bask in the sun and reap the benefits?

And yet, whether we like it or not, we do have free will and must live with its consequences.

We cannot avoid the inevitability of making choices, and what choices we make will determine our respective perspectives on life.

We can choose to fill a half-full cup just as easily as fill a half-empty one!

Im pretty much a no-show, other than Walt Whitman and Ezra Pound, when it comes to the appreciation of poetry. And yet a poem written centuries ago by a little-known poet named Richard Lovelace always has stayed with me. In a poem written from a man in prison to his loved one, Lovelace wrote, If I have freedom in my love and in my soul am free, angels alone that soar above enjoy such liberty.

And thats an example of the perspective of newfound hope that buoyed the young lady mentioned above, allowing her to arise above perceived circumstances and view life differently.

Where individuals find their impetus for hope likely is as varied as sand particles in the sea. And yet, each has the opportunity both to reach for and discover hope. For some, maybe many, the path seems treacherous, but the door will open if we keep knocking.

In my case, when I hit the bottom, I totally was defeated and felt by rights that anyone in authority owed it to me to open up the earth and envelop me inside. But that didnt happen, I got cold waiting for it to happen, and finally saw no option but to stand up and begin anew.

Maybe the decision to give up giving up (in my life) was an exercise in God-given free will.

The champion of perspective could well be James. In the opening words of his first chapter, he writes to count it all as joy. Sure, James, thats easy for you to say, but you lived thousands of years ago and have no idea of the burdens life now plants on my shoulders.

Quite possibly, how we choose to accept the challenges life plants before us can prove to be more critical than the challenges themselves.

At least thats an option we have free will to choose.

Jabberwock II columnist Rocky Wilson is a reporter for the Chieftain.