Change your perspective and watch your life transform …
By Leslie K. Hughes
Life is so juicy and beautiful and sexy – the most perfect work of art any masterful artist could create.
But often we’re too busy hustling or complaining to even notice.
We’re too busy working in life and focusing on the negatives that we have forgotten to work on life – work on having fun, enjoying the pleasures. Because that’s what life is all about, right? I’m here for a good time, and a long time. Don’t you want to be, too?
The pleasures of life don’t exist only in the places you think. They’re not just in the extravagant travels, the dinners with friends, the time with loved ones. They’re also in what we dub “the mundane.” That includes work.
Though not as outwardly sparkly as jetsetting across Europe, you can choose to make your work a pleasure. In fact, you owe it to yourself to do so, given that’s where most of us spend the majority of our lives.
You wake up every day with the choice of how you want to approach your work – the mindset you want to attach to it.
Not every bit of work will be rainbows and sunshine – you’ll have to send emails you don’t want, work on projects you’d rather not, attend meetings that easily could have been an email. But all it takes is a mindset shift, a change in your perspective, and, *voila* the work doesn’t feel so work-y anymore. It starts to have a little more sparkle to it, a little bit more shine.
And when you start applying that idea to all aspects of your life – oh, baby things get truly beautiful.
Don’t mistake this as toxic positivity – I am not a proponent of that. Life is beautiful because of its ebbs and flows; its ups and downs – not in spite of them. I would never suggest that you take that lusciousness out of your life. It’s an integral part of the human experience.
But if you’re spending most of your time in the downs, dragged there by your job and other “responsibilities;” if you’re living for nights and weekends when you get to “escape,” then you’re missing out on a whole lot of life.
So what would happen if you allowed yourself to trust yourself that you’ll know when the time is truly right to complain, get annoyed, irritated, mad, sad, etc.? What if you trusted yourself to feel those feelings only for as long as they’re necessary, and then let them go? MOVE ON, knowing that getting stuck in those emotions is never going to do you any good.
This is my challenge to you.
Don’t avoid the emotions as they come up – just don’t get stuck in them. Notice them, acknowledge them, thank them for showing up, ask them why they showed up – what they’re here to teach you, learn that lesson, and MOVE ON. Challenges arise in life to teach us something. But we can’t learn if we get stuck.
If you’re asking how to know if you’re spending too much time stuck in these negative emotions, only you can answer that. It’s not the simple answer you may be looking for, but it’s the only answer.
No one knows you better, knows what you need better than you. It’s easy to forget that when we are constantly inundated with the voices of others. And I don’t want to be just another one of those outside voices – I want to be your reminder to get back to your true self –s/he is in there – you just have to give them a chance to speak.
But I can tell you this – your current life is a direct reflection of your mindset. If you like the way your life looks and feels, then great! You’re probably spending the right amount of time allowing emotions and feelings to be expressed, and then moving on.
But if you don’t like the way your life looks, then it’s time to start asking yourself some questions. “Why do I feel this way? What areas of my life are bringing me down more often than not?” Those are the areas you need to work on changing your perspective, injecting more pleasure, finding the sparkle.
Sometimes all it takes is what I like to call a “Zoom Out.” If I find myself spiraling over a problem, I pause, close my eyes, take a deep breath, and zoom out. Zoom out of my body, out of my location, up past the sky, and into the vast universe.
I look at my so-called problem from there and ask if, from up here, does this problem really matter? Is it really worth my complaining, my stress, my anxiety, my anger? Sometimes the answer is “yes.” In which case, I allow myself to feel the feelings from up there, not from down here. I process them, give them their time and attention, and then let them go.
But, usually when I ask if the problem really matters from this POV, my answer is “no.” This perspective gives me perspective on life, reminds me that it’s not worth getting stuck on. I see what lesson is there to be learned, and then say “thank you” for the opportunity to learn this lesson.
Then I take that lesson and apply it to my life; remember it the next time a similar situation with a similar stuck feeling or emotion pops up. This time, I’ll know what to do with it. And that’s growth, baby. That’s life. That’s the richness, the juiciness we came here for.
Isn’t it so much more fun this way?
Current Favorites
listening
Liars & Players by Asal. I’m in an interesting phase of music right now. I honestly don’t even know what you’d call the genre of music I’ve been listening to, but I’m enjoying it. It’s opening up a new version of me and I love it.
eating
I had possibly the most incredible guacamole of my life in Mexico. It had kalamata olives and pistachios in it! Sounds strange, but trust me. I haven’t recreated it at home yet, but I can’t stop thinking about it. It was at this super cool restaurant called Yasmina’s. Venice vibes in San Pancho.
drinking
It’s officially summer, which means I’m back on my fauxjito game. it’s a mojito minus the rum and sugar.
sparkling water + fresh lime + fresh mint = hot weather bliss
reading
I know I’m late to the game, but I’m currently reading the Crescent City series and am obsessed. I didn’t think I would like the modern-day approach to fantasy, complete with cell phones and nose rings, but I stand corrected. I just finished the first book this morning and am starting the second one tonight.
pining
A Euro girl summer. This happens every summer, so I’ll be over it soon. But currently dreaming of aimlessly wandering the streets of Italy.
