A Little Change in Perspective

I think we’re supposed to learn as we grow up that change is inevitable and really essential to our successful maturity. I’ve continually found myself feeling a little behind. I’ve always been taken completely by surprise with change and, in most cases, tried to resist it as long as I could. It’s taken many years for me to accept change as a part of living and I’m still working on accepting problems as necessary for growth.

In my job as a Nurse Practitioner people come to me for help because they have health problems they can’t solve on their own. In another part of that job, I function as the Clinical Consultant for the Emergency Department. That means it’s my job to make sure our staff knows the latest evidence-based practice, that they’re doing a good job documenting the great care they’re giving, and I review processes to improve our quality and effectiveness as a department. A majority of my time at work is spent solving problems. Yours probably is, too, just different ones. So, if you’re like me, you need to adjust your focus now and then. We can’t be disheartened by the constant onslaught of problems when the solving of these problems is what ensures our continued employment.

After work, though, you can come home and just relax, right? I know, me neither. The problems can be small like scheduling issues with activities – horse lessons have been changed to Fridays. Violin lessons are on Fridays. We have to do some juggling. It’s not a big deal – just something unexpected that popped up. The much larger issues are things like, “Mom, I need $600 for textbooks. Today.” Or, “You’re going to be a grandmother.” Wow. The $600 is not unusual – we’ve all had unexpected expenses – sometimes much more staggering than that…they’ll never go away. I’m certain this grand-baby will be a wonderful blessing despite the unusual circumstances. We will all love this child more than we can imagine. So we must, collectively, relax, focus on what’s most important, and find our way through it together.

Want to try having a different perspective for awhile? Let’s just try it for one day – whatever problems arise, we’ll look at them as a challenge and just start thinking of solutions. Sometimes the solutions take awhile – longer than just a day – we’ll make that okay, too, if only for a day. Try to think about why this problem developed – could it have been avoided with earlier action (are you a procrastinator?) or is the problem there to improve you in some way? Maybe we’ll all feel a little lighter – more positive. Maybe life will seem more manageable just for having shifted our thinking even for one day. Maybe we'll want to try it every day. I’m starting tomorrow…when are you?

Shift your focus from problems to enjoyment of a sunset like this...