Thursday, January 6, 2011

Keeping Things in Perspective

Even though I didn't make any New Year's resolutions, I had high hopes that 2011 would start off with a fresh, positive outlook. Instead I've had a few days where a disappointment or two has dampened my enthusiasm and challenged me to keep my chin up and say, "hey, tomorrow is another day. Life is not as bad as you think. In fact it's pretty darned good." I hear heart wrenching stories about families who've lost loved ones and others who have so little and think, "There but for the grace of God go I..." So when these small - and I do mean small - disappointments (in people, in events) take place why is it sometimes so hard to shrug them off?

For me, keeping things in perspective is a constant battle. I am, truly, a very practical person and understand that sometimes people make mistakes, sometimes the world works a certain way and we have to accept that a certain journey is not always going to go smoothly. It may, for me, be a control issue. Many times, the disappointments that happen are out of my control, or belong to other people who I don't want to see hurt, and my heart breaks for them, and for my inability to 'fix it', to make it better for them. This is when I have to remind myself that I can only control my reaction to events - not the events themselves. For a control freak like me that is a really hard lesson to learn. It is a constant struggle to turn a negative into a positive and to not dwell on things and I'm in awe of those people who can remain upbeat in the most dire of circumstances.

Perhaps, this is just one of those things I will always need to work on and some days I may be able to do it. Other days it may slip from my grasp. But whatever day I happen to be living in, I need to remind myself that I have been blessed with a good life - not a perfect life - but a good life. And sometimes, I should just simply be thankful for it.

8 comments:

  1. A simple goal, but not always easy. Best of luck with it. :)

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  2. Oh, how I relate to this post! I agree that gratitude must be part of the answer - it's such a centring, healing, perspective-giving practice. My other personal stronghold is et hoc transibit - this too shall pass. I wish you all the very best with your worthy resolution.

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  3. Sometimes I'm brought down, but when I hear of reasons to be truly down and discouraged, it does change my perspective.

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  4. Thanks, Linda. Sometimes the simple things are the very hardest. :)

    Hi Anna: I have added that mantra to my arsenal, Anna. Thank you.

    Hi Laura: The counting of our blessings should be a daily ritual. Here's to changing perspectives!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog today, Nelsa. I'm glad it might have helped a little.

    Keep writing. And remember, you are an author!! Congratulations, and celebrate the fact every chance you get! :)

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  6. Thank you, Lisa. Your blog post was wonderful. I'm going to refer to it often!

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  7. I have to constantly remind myself to be grateful - not that I'm not grateful, but it's easy to slip into the hum-drum of life and feel than things are bad. And they are "bad" in the small-b sense, but in the Big B sense, they are nothing at all. Blessings, even. So I try to constantly remind myself - and it sometimes even works! :)

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  8. Hi Susan: Yes, I think that's it. The 'hum-drum' of life can get you into a rut so easily and that makes it just as easy to stay in that rut. There's some famous saying that says it's not how people react to success but how they bounce back from failures/disappoints that makes them strong (or something like that)and I try to remember that and instill it in my kids - and myself - as often as I can.

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