How do you react to pain

I was reading MM's Post on her train experience and I went into one of those phases of mine. When I hear stories of pain. Then I read the newspaper and needless to say, there was more food for thought there.

How do you react to all the trouble in the world? You can help but can you help everyone? You can donate money but can you make a difference? Often the only thing I find I can do at the end of it is abhor myself for complaining about the little discomforts in my own life. When I hear of tragedies or see people around me braving much worse cards that life has dealt to them, I feel so lame trying to make my own problems look big. At least while I last in this phase, I feel really thankful for whatever I have. From the heart.