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Monday, March 25, 2013

The Power of Perspective

When discussing how certain things are really tough right now (like expensive car repairs) I said to Ben,

"Things may be tough, but at least we're not getting eaten by vampires." 

I call that PERSPECTIVE.


--personal status update, January of this year

(Yes, I'm totally quoting myself. Because, why not?)

I am not a big fan of current usage of the word, "perspective."  I think that it's often misused in an attempt to dampen their personal struggles. In a  "Oh you're going through depression?  Well why don't you get a little PERSPECTIVE and stop complaining?" kind of way.  In it's pure definition it's a concept I readily apply to my own life.

Perspective
noun
2b: the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance 
(Merriam Webster online dictionary)

If I start to feel all blah and dreary about life, there are three things that always cheer me up.

When I'm feeling particularly crabby about laundry, or any other chore, or the massive piling therein, I just remind myself, at least we have a washer and dryer.

From the basement apartment that we inhabited when Ben and I were newlyweds to the big town home we first lived in when moving to Missouri, we always had a washer and dryer.  But last year, when we moved to St. Louis, we didn't.  For 1 year we struggled carrying 8-10 heavy bags of laundry up and down three flights of stairs to our little car, buckling all three kids in car seats, driving 20 min to a decent laundromat, and spending the next 4+ hours doing laundry.  Now that we have a washer and dryer again (and a dishwasher, BAM!), I do not abhor laundry like I used to.  Nothing rivals sitting in a tiny apartment with bags of dirty laundry and only one or two pairs of clean clothes for your kids hoping everyone can last until the weekend for laundry day.  Yep, I'll take my constantly growing pile of laundry in the basement to that any day.

When the weather threatens to upend my mental stability, I remember that, at least we have parks nearby.

Most of my parenting life, I've also been within reasonable walking distance to parks.  I remember spending hours just playing at parks when we lived in our tiny 2 bedroom apartment in Utah and loving it. When we moved to that awful place in St. Louis, the closest parks were all about a 10-15 min drive. There wasn't space near the apartment for the kids to play in and we were often stuck inside - especially while I was pregnant and when Baby A was just born - All. Day. Long.  Now that we live right next to a park and we have a nice, big, backyard, and are within walking distance of stores and other parks, I am blissfully happy.  The weather hasn't permitted much use of either the parks or the backyard, but they're there, and that's all that matters.

If all else fails, I just think, "hey, at least I'm not pregnant."  Enough said.

2 comments:

  1. I've been in a big time rut lately and perspective has been hard to come by. But I hear you loud and clear. xo

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  2. Haha.. Perspective is what I'm working on when I'm running down the hall at the office and trying to get my key to work before I puke --- But mine is, "at least I AM pregnant.." haha.. :)

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