Perspective Changes

Hello friends, it has a been awhile.

I love this blog and the ability to record life so I can look back and remember the adventure we have been on.  This past year has been quite the adventure, but I have not chosen to take time to record it here.  I have spent my time writing lesson plans, grading papers, and trying to stay in shape.

Summer has been such a relief!  I love sleeping past 5am, sipping morning coffee with my love, and running at whatever time I want.  We recently camped at the Grand Canyon for a week (post to come).  A truth that has poking at me for the last few months convinced me of its reality this past week.

Perspective can change your attitude.

The guidebooks and websites I read before visiting the Grand Canyon claimed that the South Rim (where we were camping) was thronged with visitors and it was challenging to enjoy the majesty and beauty of the Canyon with so many.

We arrived and I laughed.  I highly doubt that the people who wrote these statements have ever tried to board a public bus in Korea half an hour before school starts.  If they had, they would have not used the word crowded. Yes, there are people looking at the Grand Canyon and trying to get pictures at the main visitor center.  But crowded?  I think it depends on your perspective.

This past winter, I had coworkers commenting nearly daily about the temperature of their classrooms.  I came home and told Ian about teachers complaining about being cold.  We remembered wearing multiple layers, mittens, and hats inside for the winter.  The pipes froze in the bathroom.  I did not feel the need to share with my coworkers that they did not know what cold is - but it reminded me again how perspective can change my attitude.

I was able to be thankful for functioning bathrooms with unfrozen pipes and classrooms that were warm enough to take my coat off in.

I was able to be thankful at the Grand Canyon that Ian and I only had to hike a few minutes from the "crowded" areas to have the Canyon to ourselves and enjoy grandeur in silence.

I am sure someday I will look back and think that I knew very little about perspective at 26.  I will probably look back and wonder how I could ever consider life to be "busy" or "stressful" when we have no kids, no house, and money in the bank.  I will ponder how I could ever be "tired" when I sleep every night without be woken by a little one.  Yet, I don't necessarily think I have to wait for my circumstances to change for my perspective to adjust.

I can choose joy today.  I can choose to see blessings in this season of life.  I can ask myself, "In 5 years will it matter that ____________ ?"  

Perspective can change your attitude.