Duly Noted: A [not so] beautiful day in the neighborhood?

This morning it was pouring rain outside, I actually thought we may be in for a second wave of flooding, and I was walking about the house in pajamas, glad to have a day off, and lounge with the DVR, my favorite shows and the nap that crept up on me... Both of them.

Normally when having a lounge day, I open all the blinds, windows if the weather permits, letting in as much natural light as possible because I love to take it all in. But today with the rain pouring, I thought to myself “nah, it’s such an ugly day.” Then, like right then, I thought, “what about clouds and rain equates ugly?” Is there no beauty in the replenishing of the earth, the watering of the plants, the nourishing of the land.

Now I didn’t spiral into a song with birds fluttering about, but I did sort of think about the way we label things in our lives. The way that we have conditioned ourselves to think about the things that happen in our everyday lives.

Break-Up: Terrible.

Loss of a job: End of the world

Bad perm: Just cry until the burning stops.

But I’ve been trying to take a better look at how I look at things. Ultimately, it’s all about our perceptions and our choices. We all get the options to be happy, even in the face of adversity, troubled times, or just not so great days.

A few years ago I heard “inside every obstacle is an opportunity.” Even now, I’m thinking about how that applies with the situations I just listed:

Break-Up: Opportunity to learn more about myself, chance to find a better suited person for me, possibility of stepping back and re-evaluating your relationship(s).

Loss of a job: Maybe a career change, the opportunity to spend more time focused on things that matter more, or simply moving to a new level.

Bad perm: Hmmm... Maybe get excited about... the new skin that will replace your burns? Look, I’m tryin.

Overall, just think about the best of the best of things. There is always a silver lining. A friend of mine would often say to me, “Yeah, that sucks... but at least you don’t have crabs.”

Now go open the blinds and look at the rain, and if you don't see the bright side there, at least you don't have crabs. Unless... you know... you do. Gotta go.

Best,

j.