Monday, November 27, 2017

Monday Mantra: Perspective Adjustment

mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".

Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.


Monday Mantra: What if you were thankful all the time?
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White Feathers Design
At this time of year, I always feel extra grateful. I'm sure we all do; it's what the holiday season is about, after all.

It's been quite the year, hasn't it?

The good and the bad, the truth and the lies, the devastation and the never surrendering hope, hope hope.

I recently had what I would call a Perspective Adjustment. A chance to change the way I saw and felt about something because something else jumped into my path and made me re-think, well, everything.

This thing would be a job opportunity that came out of the blue from a dear friend of mine. It was an amazing offer; excellent pay, something I'd love and was well qualified for, plus returning to an area I know in and out, but with a brand new job title to add to my resume. It was comfortable and exciting, all at the same time.

But, for a number of reasons, I opted against it. While each and every reason carries it's own weight, one of the most interesting was how having this offer come up caused me to re-think what I was already doing. How it made me reconsider frustrations and complaints I'd been feeling about my current job. All the tiny, minuscule things that, if left to fester too long over time, build up and make themselves seem so much bigger and more important than they really are.

It hit me out of nowhere, if I'm being honest.

I don't have a bad job. Not in any sense of the word. It can be frustrating, infuriating, and annoying, but in the end it is good through and through. I just kind of forgot that for a while. That's what happens when you do something for a long time and you get used to your woes and complaints. You start to see them as major events when really they're almost nothing at all in the big scheme of life and work. It's like that saying, "First world white people problems," where people complain about things no one should ever have a right to complain about, like having no WiFi at a restaurant. It's complete insanity.

I was being a little insane, too.

My recent Perspective Adjustment woke me up to not only all of the good in what I do now, but to a lot of the good around me that I take for granted. It made me thankful for things I've forgotten to be thankful for in quite some time.

It has been an excellent lesson, a great wake up, a wonderful eye-opener.

It made me think: What if we were thankful all the time? 

How different our lives would be if we noticed not just the big things, but the small, common, every day ones, like indoor plumbing, more clothes than we need to choose from and complain about all the time, and the ability to have our favorite TV show record while we're out doing whatever the hell we want all thanks to this magical little box called a DVR.

We humans are so silly sometimes. The things we think of, the things we torture ourselves over or complain endlessly about- all the things we have chosen to reflect negatively on for no real reason.

Maybe we could all use a little bit of a Perspective Adjustment? Maybe we could all be a little more appreciative like Parker, from Friends, who saw the good in all things. I mean, not quite like him, because it was a little much, but you get the idea.

I am thankful for all of you, and that is something I will not forget nor take for granted at this time of year or any other.


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