By human standards, my world isn’t very big. I live in a house with nine feline siblings. We stay indoors. On occasion, one of us will be lured into a cat-sized crate, placed in a car, and driven to our veterinarian’s office for a checkup or to have our teeth cleaned. This most unwelcomed adventure is an exception to the safe and happy life to which we are all accustomed.
Most humans work, shop, socialize, and seek entertainment to fill their time. They choose a fast-paced lifestyle filled with never-ending variety and still often feel that their world is suffocating, hemmed in, and bound by limitations. Stress is on the rise while joy begins to fade, and smiling becomes a rarely-remembered pleasure.
How is a human to endure a difficult situation that cannot be changed?
Pray for a fresh perspective. Before anything else, ask God for His presence to calm your soul’s fierce storm. The most common mistake every human makes is forgetting that every aspect of life comes down to spiritual warfare. Thanking God for your blessings – and there are always more than can be counted – is the first step in lifting your perspective out of the rut of negativity.
Choose a positive perspective. We all have a “fight or flight” response. If we can’t fight circumstances into submission, we look for a way to eliminate or escape those circumstances. But sometimes there isn’t a way out, nor should there be. Take a moment to step out of the ring and choose a seat in the bleachers. You are now a spectator in your own life. What do you see?
…the cluttered, dirty kitchen, or the meal your family just shared?
…a less-than-glamorous job, or the blessing that you are to your employers, as they bless you in return with a regular paycheck?
…a dusty, disorganized house, or a home overflowing with evidence of life and love?
…people making demands on your time, or friends who genuinely desire your company?
…a schedule crammed with commitments, or the privilege of sharing your time, talents, and presence with people and organizations whose needs would not be met without you?
…obligations, or opportunities?
Assume a perspective of appreciation, or as it is more commonly called, an Attitude of Gratitude! Contrary to what humans see advertised, life isn’t perfect, and it’s never going to be, no matter how many classes we take or products we buy or cosmetic improvements we endeavor to make. However, appreciating what we already have today is the perfect foundation on which to build the framework for the goals we intend to achieve tomorrow. And appreciation will bless all of the Todays en route to those goals with peace and joy.
Take your perspective on an adventure! As I’ve already shared, my brothers and sisters and I are indoor cats. So how do we stay positive and happy in the same environment day after day? We know a truth that too many humans fail to grasp: Life is an adventure! Don’t believe me? Explore your world. Examine details you’ve always taken for granted or passed over as mundane. For me, that might mean finding a toy I had forgotten about and rediscovering the joy of playing like a kitten. Or looking out a window and chattering at a new generation of birds learning their way around the feeder.
Nothing stays the same in our Extra-Ordinary world. Seasons change. Time passes. Enjoy the adventure of today while it is right here, right now. To ignore today is to risk looking back and realizing you failed to recognize precious blessings while you had the chance to live the one life that is exclusively yours.
Some circumstances cannot be changed. They can only be accepted. Often, when we accept the path to which we have been assigned, we discover that we are learning and growing and becoming in ways we could not have otherwise achieved. That as long as we are in God’s will, we are in the only perfect place that exists.
And that brings us to the most important perspective of all: the Perspective of Praise.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose.
~ Romans 8:28
Welcome life with a new PURRspective in your Extra~Ordinary World!
