Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Perspective

The background on my laptop is a picture taken of my husband and I on our honeymoon in St. Lucia back in April 2011.  We were on a catamaran with the Piton Mountains in the background.  And when you look at it, it doesn't seem like those Pitons are tall mountains at all.  But I can tell you from experience, because I suffered through climbing one of them thinking it would be "fun," they are much taller than they appear.  The only one that seemed to get up that mountain with ease was the "community dog" named Brownie who led the way for our tour group.  Then again, he's been climbing that mountain almost every day for most of his life just to be around people for the attention and affection so to him it wasn't even difficult.  It was difficult for me, almost impossible at times I thought.  I complained during some of those endless steep sections as I climbed up the rock "steps" that had been cut into the side of the mountain, but it was worth every bit of that exertion once we got to the top and saw the view.  It's all about perspective after all. 

There are literally thousands of inspirational quotes on perspective - your perspective on reality, life, etc.  If I started writing about one of them, I'd have to try to write about all of them.  The glass is either half full or half empty, right?  The only thing I can say about perspective is that it is unique to every one, and that it sometimes changes based on what you experience.  I can tell you that my perspective has probably changed in everything that I do now that I've been stumbling through this sad journey.  Life just is different now, or at least my perspective of it is.  And I bet it will change again as I continue along my path.

The one quote I will share is a random quote from the movie "Steel Magnolias."  I'm not ashamed to admit that I like this movie and in fact, I think it's a great movie (the original one that is).  My favorite character may be Clairee, but that's neither here nor there.  During the movie, one of the characters, Truvy (played by Dolly Parton), says "laughter through tears is my favorite emotion."  Right now, I have to agree.  As most of you know, I like to be fun-loving and happy, and laugh, and since February 1st most of my laughter has come through tears.  They are intwined - a juxtaposition of immense sadness and flashes of joy through laughter.  It's all based on my perspective at the time. 
I'm trying to work on fighting through the sad, lonely times to focus my perspective on the bright future.  And as a wise family member shared with me today, there is no time limit for experiencing these things.  I have to balance the past with the future.  And I just have to keep that in perspective...

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