Change Your Perspective

Photo by Joey Felps

Change Your Perspective

​I am so happy.  Even though I have to work Every. Single. Day in a job that I hate.  (for now!)  I am happy.  On my way to work, I pass palm trees and spooky trees (you might call them Live Oaks with Spanish Moss dangling from them) and beautiful bays of salty water.  The air is warm and the sky is blue.

If I chose... I could focus on my long hours every. Single. Day.  The pain in my hands and back and feet.  People missing from my life.  Poor tipping habits and fussy co-workers.

Both sets of events are happening in my life on a daily basis.  Which outlook do think I should choose?  

Every morning, when we wake up we make the choice in how we are going to face our day.  It's a lot harder to get sucked into a bad mood when you start your day with a positive attitude.  

I know life isn't all sunshine and roses.  I don't pretend that it is, but everyone has bad things happen to them.  The one's that come out ahead are the ones who choose to face it with a glass half full kind of attitude.  You could, if you wanted to, stew over the event, or action and let it ferment inside you and sour your point of view and double the pain in your back or knees and see the world as a darker place... or you can know, that this to shall pass.  Get past it.  Don't let things defeat you!  Change your perspective!  

On the days that the sun doesn't shine and the world really is dark and gloomy, all I have to do is close my eyes and think on things that make me happy.  I find my sunshine in my grandchildren's faces.  The ocean waves coming into shore.  It's always there, sometimes I have to search a bit for it.  But I always find it.

So much with how we solve problems is how we react to them.  Change your perspective.  There's a saying out there that says Looking back, I've survived with 100% success all the days so far, so that's a pretty good track record.  I love that!!

I promise you, I am not always happy and bouncing off the walls.  Most days, I'm pretty quiet and reflective.  But I am no less happy that I woke up this morning.  

Here's a few tips that might help change your perspective as you go through your days....

-Take a step back.  Look at the bigger picture.  How is this going to affect you in 10 years?  5 years? 5 months? 5 days?  There is some serious stuff going on out there in the world today.  Whatever my little problems are, they don't even measure up to what other's have to deal with.  

- Literally, change your perspective.  Look at the world, the room, the office, the car in a different way.  Lay on the ground and look up.  Climb to a higher space and look down.  Stand on your head.  Close one eye.  Walk on your knees.  Suddenly, things look so different!  Your eye catches things it would have never seen otherwise.

- Remind yourself that "failure" is just a learning curve.  We all go through trials to make us stronger.  What can you learn from this set back?

- Every day, is a new day.  Be thankful that you woke up!  The day is already looking better!  Yesterday is gone.  It's not coming back.  Let the events from yesterday go with it.  Today, you can choose to start of happy or sad.  Fearful or triumphant.  The choice really is yours.  (Don't believe me?  Try it out for a week. You'll be amazed and think I'm really awesome!)

- Remind yourself that everyone is afraid of something.  Has lost something. and loves something.  We don't know what another person is going through... so if they come at you with a foul attitude, respond with kindness... always.  

- This too shall pass.  It's just another "day in the life".  When we're looking back on our lives we may not even remember these trials.  Or we may look back and realize the strength it took you to get past it.  But don't let it show that this is where you gave up.  Don't let your circumstances defeat you.  This too shall pass.

- Everyone... let me say that again.... EVERYONE who now has the sun on their face has been through the shadows.  No one escapes hard times.  They come in different forms and they come at different times and the devil is relentless, but the sunshine is just around the corner, I promise.  

Even when I get to work, I may get knocked down a notch or two, my smile may fade a little as the day or memories ware away at me, but then... on my way home... I pass palm trees and spooky trees and beautiful bays of salty water and when I open the door to my home, my big black dog is there and she thinks I am the greatest thing ever.

So, if your days are dark and gloomy, perhaps you need to look at the other side of the street.  There IS some sunshine SOMEWHERE.  You just have to find it.  Life is too short to be miserable.  Find your sunshine and blue salty water... change your perspective.

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