Perspective: What Choice Will You Make?
Lemons or lemonade...
“Your perspective will either become your prison or your passport.” ~ Steven Furtick
Does anyone look forward to a two hour shuttle ride to the airport? Forty-two hundred feet down the side of a mountain on a highway riddled with construction? With 13 passengers squished into a long, white van?
Well, that was a gloomy start to this story. I’ll stop that. Because it gets better. Actually, lots better. I’m working on perspective, you see. And that’s what this story is all about. Perspective. Not mine. But someone fabulous.
Enter Caren
A 60-something woman with soft blond curls and wire rims buckled up next to me. Our driver, Wayne, pulled out from the lot and eased the Airport Shuttle on the downhill trek.
“Where are you flying to today?” I asked her. “Oceanside,” she said, with a smile. “I’m visiting a good friend for a few days. Taking a little break from caring for my son.”
She had just thrown a line in the water? Should I bite? What the heck….it was a two hour ride.
“Oh, really. That sounds like a nice idea. Oceanside is such a fun beach town. And a nice place to take a break from things.”
I was also flying from Phoenix to Oceanside, but that’s not the important part of this story….
“I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “My son has some mental disabilities. He can work in a store as long as he has another adult who works along side him to help him manage his day. Lately, we’ve had a few speedbumps.”
It turns out that things hadn’t been going well for her son at work. So many retail shops are having trouble hiring and keeping staff, including the ‘disability support persons’. The last one had recently quit with no replacement in sight. Her son started to struggle at work. Without the support person, he would lose his job.
Caren1 (I now knew her name) said, “Just when Casey2 was starting to struggle, the most amazing thing happened. I found out that I had cancer.” She smiled a very infectious smile.
I’m sure I looked perplexed and totally unsure how that could be amazing… or what I should say.
Unfazed, she continued. “When they diagnosed me with cancer, I had to leave my full time job. But I was able to work part time, so I signed up to be the disability support person where Casey worked.”
“It was such a blessing,” she continued. I got to spend more time with Casey and really see, firsthand, what his day working was really like. He loved it. I loved it, too.””
But that wasn’t the end of the story….
“You can see that I’m so much better now,” she said. She ran her fingers through her curls. “But there was a time when I had to stop being the support person. I had lost my hair and I just wasn’t strong enough to continue.”
“It was my last day at the store. A young couple started chatting with me. They noticed Casey and how close we seemed to be. I mentioned to them that it was my last day. And another amazing thing happened.”
By now I’m wondering just how amazing this could be….
“It turned out, the couple had a son with disabilities, too. They asked me if it would be ok for them to take over for me. I was speechless. They started the next week and we’ve become great friends.”
“Now how’s that for luck?” she said. She was practically glowing.
I’m thinking…..how’s that for perspective.
Perspective: the way we view and interpret the world around us
I learned a little over a year ago that my brain is a negativity machine. And, not to leave you out, your brain is, too! Scientists say it’s in our genes.
The good news….we can overcome that negative perspective.
Your perspective affects your emotions, your actions, and how you feel. Your perspective is powerful. It can make or break your day, or your entire life.
Having a positive perspective can influence your personal and professional life and your daily interactions with the world around you.
Think about Caren’s options. A son with disabilities. Cancer. Job loss for her and her son. Our negativity machine would eat that all up. She chose a different….positive perspective. And it has made all the difference in her life.
Life gives all of us lemons sometimes. And it’s ok to have that little pity party. After that, we all have choices. Those choices impact your whole life as well as others around you. I’d like to think I’m going to choose like Caren. How about you?
Have you met someone like Caren? What amazed you about them? Did they help change your perspective on life?
May your week be filled with kindness and a positive perspective. 💜
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While you’re thinking about your perspective, you may also enjoy reading:
Resilience, Realistic Positivity, and 60 Kindness Ideas
I Shouldn’t Have Done That; A Dinosaur is Chasing Me; and Other Positive Thoughts…
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Her real name is not Caren. Just changed it to protect her.
As with Caren, Casey’s name is fictitious.
Loved your story. I do encounter friends and some of my family who have life challenges. It causes me to thank God for what I have, I have a great wife, our daughter is married to a great man and everyone is healthy. In these crazy days, it helps me to pause and give thanks for what I have.
Such a beautiful story to ponder. 🙏