A young man felt at the end of the road, his life seemed to be falling apart around him. Three months earlier his father had died suddenly and whilst he was doing his best to help his mum cope with her loss, there was no one he could turn to and felt totally alone. His girl friend at the time had decided he was no longer fun to be with, so she ditched him for someone more interesting. The final blow came when he was made redundant and for the first time in his life he had to start job hunting. Feeling he couldn't cope any more he went to see his doctor, who diagnosed acute depression and gave him some medication to take.

One night he went to bed feeling particularly low, he knelt and prayed, "Lord, I can't go on, I have too heavy a cross to bear, please help me." He climbed into bed, took his medication and fell into a deep sleep. In a dream he met the Lord and again said to him, "Lord I have too heavy a cross to bear, please help me." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear the weight, place your cross inside this room, then open that other door and pick out any cross you wish." The young man was filled with relief and said, "Thank you Lord," and did as he was told. Upon entering the room, he saw many crosses, some so large that the tops were not visible. Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against the far wall and he said, "I'd like that small one Lord." The Lord smiled at him and replied, "My son that is the cross you have just brought in."

When life's problems seem overwhelming, it sometimes helps to look around and see what other people have to cope with. You may then consider yourself to be far more fortunate than you could ever imagine.