Question #3 - Who Provides Your Perspective?

The last three weeks at work have been really challenging for me. Work has been pretty awful. It's been really cold. The stomach flu plowed through for the third time this winter. But all of my whining aside, things are really okay. I can only say this now as I've had life put into perspective for me: A coworker suddenly lost a young family member a few days ago. Compared to that, I'm really really just fine.

This got me thinking, all of us have had those light bulb moments that put things into perspective. Some of us have unfortunately been the person for whom things were that bad. I'm not going to ask about either of those instances. Rather, I would like to know if there's a person in your life who helps you keep things in perspective. Is it your spouse? That person who's always on your side? A parent?

For me, my husband always lets me vent. No matter what, so the perspective I get from him is the careful listening and feedback when it's necessary. Amy is that person who is always in my corner, but she manages to call me to task when need be. But, really, the person who has managed to keep me grounded with the consistent "it's not that bad" is my mom. She loves me like crazy, but holds no illusions about me. She sees my flaws like they're neon billboards, but loves me in spite of them. She is on my side, but brings me back to earth when I'm in the wrong.

Who is the person that grounds you and takes you to task if necessary? Who provides perspective?

As before, feel free to leave your answer in comments, or let me know if you blogged about it.