Uncommon Blessings

Maybe you’ve heard the saying by Wayne Dyer, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” This phrase could apply to anything in life and is specifically intended for situations that we are unhappy about or that we believe are having a negative impact on our lives or the lives of others. This idea is a premise behind the practice of gratitude–it helps us focus on the good rather than the bad, which allows more “good” to come into our lives.

For a little while now, I’ve been commuting to Boston two days per week for work. It’s two long and very intense days sitting at a computer. Because I don’t currently live in Boston, I park my car outside the building where I work in a metered parking spot. The meter will only allow a maximum of three hours at a time, which means that every three hours I must refill the meter. At first, I found this to be a bother; that is, getting up from my work to walk down the hall, descend the stairs, leave the building, walk to my car, add quarters to the meter, then return to my desk. However, I soon realized that this was an opportunity to get up from the computer, give my eyes a rest from the screen, get my blood pumping by walking and climbing stairs, get outside for some fresh air and some sunshine, and maybe even have a few words with someone new. In terms of my health, every single step in this process is a blessing. Do I enjoy putting money into a meter? No, not really. I wouldn’t call that a blessing. In fact, yesterday, I got absorbed in what I was doing and missed the meter by 5 or 10 minutes. And sure enough, there was a parking ticket. Yes, I was very unhappy about it–for about 10 minutes. Then I shook it off and decided it was a lesson to get up and outside regularly. So, from here forward, I will set the alarm on my phone for my meter breaks.

One of the few (or maybe the only) authentic powers we possess is the right to view any given situation in any way that we want. There’s no right or wrong perspective and actually, we never really see things exactly as someone else. We can choose to focus on the negative, or we can screen for the positive, sifting out the negative. It’s our choice. Although there will always come a time or situation where the positive may not be apparent right away, or may never be obvious, the more we practice looking for the uncommon blessings in our lives, the happier and healthier we will be…