Perspective

I enjoy coming back to places I'd once been used to, these I haven't seen for a long time. Every time I return, it's an opportunity for me to think back to the past and think about who I'd represented back in the day and what my life was like. The idea first hit me when I was sitting in a coffee place at downtown Warsaw, starting at the city center through the window. I looked at the buildings which I used to watch live on an on-line webcam while in the States, longing to home. But here I was, back, in the real world. Now I could at most watch Yakima through an on-line webcam, away from there for good.

Perspective.

Personally, treating life from different perspectives makes my life easier. It makes me happier, prevents me from worrying about minor stuff, and strengthens my belief in the future and my call. Relying on the perspective proves that everything that happens, happens in a way it's supposed to.

I'm afraid that a lot of people tend not to appreciate what they’ve got from life, wishing they had more and that things were generally better. I'm not to say I never think such way anymore, but I've given it up to a significant extent.

See, you can own no matter how much and always desire more - but this way you will never reach the point when you will be able to consider yourself fulfilled, and thus happy. Or, you can simply appreciate what you've already got, extract happiness from all extra gains, and not expect more - keeping your eyes open, however. If you are able to reach that way of thinking, your level of happiness will significantly improve. Just, how to do that? 

See, you have a choice. You can either think you have not enough or that you simply have. You can program your mind for the gains or for the loses. You have a choice: to constantly long for more or to appreciate an actual state. 

Here's what I do: whenever I happen to feel insufficient with whatever the case might be, I picture the same situation, say, reversed. I imagine myself lacking something I actually do own, putting myself in a situation when fulfilling the desire would make me feel better. And here I am, exactly in the position I've just pictured!

On the other hand, I could reach forward, only to realize I'm not at this point. Not yet, at least. And then I would feel bad. 

So, why not to reverse the way of thinking?

I'm not to say you should not have dreams and set goals. It's an entirely class of values (in fact, I'm going to post a separate writing on goals and dreams). Remember, however, that the role of goals is to provide you with motivation to use your whole potential to cross the paths of life. They are never to make you feel insufficiently.

I believe that perspective is a key to happiness. Maybe not the life-long happiness, but a happiness of everyday life. One of my American friends once said “Do not think about time. Enjoy it”. Good and bad days happen in lives of every one of us, and this is important to know what to focus on in order not to get overwhelmed with the downsides. What I do, is I savor all good moments I experience and think back to the happiest memories when I'm low on motivation and my positive spirit. Very often, recalling the happy memories, especially ones that make me proud of myself, supply me with a self-confidence and inspiration when I need them most.

Returning to the places is one of my ways of doing so. Another is creating playlists of songs of each independent part of my life. For example, I have playlists of every single summer holidays, or each one of the seasons from my exchange program in the United States. I love playing them times to times to let my mind come back to how it was back in the day. Part of it is, we are not used to appreciate the present state until it becomes a distant past. For me, thinking back evokes my accomplishments and reminds me that at any given moment I have an impact for the present - and the future.

I believe that life can be an adventure, just as exciting, unbelievable, and coherent as the most engaging book or movie. The challenge is to realize and appreciate the life as a whole, as well as all the minor upsides we are given, and use them well.