Sunday, January 09, 2011

20 WORDS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Your Perspective CAN Get You Through


I'm a processor. My mind needs time to think about things presented. And some important things were brought forward in a meeting at work this morning. Perspective.

A question posed to us was along the lines of: "What is your 'go to' point to get you through the stressful times and moments during the work day". I had to speak up and say that mine would be the loss of a child. We have lived through it and survived it - so work stress CAN be dealt with in a very positive way because I've experienced some of the worst. I attribute that positiveness because God has allowed us the beauty of PERSPECTIVE.

But as the day went on, and I thought about the question, I came up with even more 'go to' items, there are way more than one. There are four, and I discussed these with my husband when I got home. Yes, the loss of a child would be number one, but we've lost everything else, lost the American dream if you please. We lost a business which lends itself to lifestyle and possessions . We lost our dream house because of the business. We lost a grandchild. Our lives had been consumed by the word 'loss' over most the past seven years. But through our loss there has been much gain. Perspective.

We have overcome and defeated the odds of divorce after losing a child. My daughter has beat those odds, too, after losing her little girl, Lily. That is SUCCESS! Even though we don't own our dream home any longer, we have a roof over our heads. Yes, it's a rented one, but it's a ROOF. It's home. Even though we don't have our own business any longer and continue living a lifestyle that the Jones's would want to keep up with, we have employment. We have SUCCESS! We aren't encumbered by the courts or the system because of divorce, even though that was a close call. That is true SUCCESS. Our retirement funding is all gone, but we are healthy enough to have wonderful jobs that we hope we can be worthy to keep for many years to come. That is DAILY success.

What are the successes in your life? I think true success can only be measured by what trials have been put in your life that could derail you. (And having said that, Bill and I have had great lengths of time being derailed.) What kind of perspective do you have? Is it getting you through the day? Is it making you a better person, family member, friend, spouse or co-worker?

Just my thoughts. And I know that grace continues to shine down on us, even when we don't see it.