What Do You See?
What do you see in this picture?
Do you see beauty or disgust? Do you see intrigue or a mess? Do you see something positive or negative?
2020 has been a year the world would wish to forget. But even though we wish it didn’t happen, can we not change our outlook on it?
COVID has put everyone through the wringer by the feeling of isolation, a crumbling economy, job losses, sicknesses and deaths of loved ones, are just a few of the side affects of COVID I see all the time.
I’ve seen people suffering in despair. I’ve witnessed tears of confusion. I’ve heard stories of heartache and mourning.
And I’m no different than you. I know you also have experienced similar situations this year.
It is easy to want to sit and complain about 2020 being the worst year ever. But after you said it and let out your frustrations, what are you going to do next?
You have two options. (1) Continue to sit or (2) Stand up.
You may think sitting is the way to go, but how will sitting help change the situation? I’ve heard it said multiple times that ignorance is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
If you are unhappy sitting, how do you expect to be happy tomorrow sitting? Same situation will bring the same outcome. Unhappiness.
You may ask, how does standing cause happiness?
The thing is standing in itself will not cause happiness, but it’s the mindset of doing something different in hopes of finding that happiness will eventually lead to that feeling of euphoria.
When you sit, nothing will change.
But when you stand, you can take a step in a new direction. You can embark on a new journey. You can experience a new sensation. You can partake in something totally new.
New doesn’t equate to better, but if you fail, you can sit and complain. But when you are done, it is important to get back up and take another new step.
Thomas Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb on his first try. The Wright Brothers didn’t take flight on their first try. You will most likely not succeed on your first try either.
But we are a society of failures. The difference between a Thomas Edison and another unknown person is, Thomas Edison didn’t sit and complain and do the same thing tomorrow. He kept taking a step until he found the right path.
Are you ready to find your path? It may take a million first steps. But don’t think of a wrong step as a failure. Maybe you needed to take a million wrong steps before you found the right one. If you look at it that way, the million wrong steps were a part of the ultimate journey.
One of my favorite paintings is Starry Night. I actually have a painting of it that someone else painted. I love to feel the hard oil brush marks of the swirling blues and yellows. In the corner of the painting is a cypress tree which is supposed to represent the depression he was suffering and ultimately his suicide.
The top picture I asked you about was a close up of the cypress tree.
2020 is like a cypress tree of this painting. It’s depressing and invokes feelings that I don’t want anyone to feel. But if you look at the rest of the picture, it is beautiful.
May we broaden our look at the entire picture and not just focus on the cypress tree. If we can do that with a painting, we can also do that with a year and our entire life.
Don’t let your life be a cypress tree.
It’s your decision what you want to focus on. I prefer to focus on the colorful night time sky with the endless possibilities.
Peace
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