Seeing it differently

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Whatever happens in life always has any number of aspects, and as such any number of ways to look at it. So we all may react differently to the same situation ~ based upon our life experiences up to this point, interest, focus, and so on ~ because we see a different aspect of that same situation.
But whichever way you look at it, we do have a tendency to see the part of the situation we don’t particularly like well before we see the good in it.

Having to get somewhere in time, the first thing that comes to mind can be the traffic jams we may encounter getting there. In accepting a dinner invitation, we could be concerned whether the restaurant will be able to cater to our dietary needs. Going on a vacation, the jetlag involved might hold us back…
When you think about it there are countless examples where the ‘negative’ jumps out at us first.

Most of these things are indeed aspects of that particular situation.
The question becomes to which extend we allow these ‘negatives’ to hold us back.

For starters; it does help to adopt a ‘solution oriented approach’ to whatever life throws at us. Thinking of solutions rather than challenges or problems. So rather than getting ourselves in a situation of being late for an important meeting because of traffic, we make sure we leave in time.

However, there is another way of looking at the things we encounter in life. Some would say it is a more spiritual perspective, but in all reality it is more of a mental exercise ~ perhaps based on a spiritual principle…

The principle is that everything that happens to us in life, we encounter for a reason.
This implies that with everything we come across, there is something for us to gain from it.
The mental exercise then is to consciously find the good in that particular situation.

So finding ourselves in a traffic jam can give us the opportunity to learn patience. And it can give us the time to breathe; to center before we enter into this meeting.
If the restaurant is not quite up to catering to our dietary needs ~ it can keep us from ‘over-eating’. It can also show us that perhaps we can handle our diets a bit more loosely.
And the jetlag can give us the perfect excuse to take some much needed rest.

Pretty much any situation has something good to offer us as well!
And as soon as we decide to see it differently ~ to see what we have to gain, rather than how life is bothering us ~ things can become quite a bit easier!
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