You should never underestimate the power of your perspective. It affects so many areas in your life and it can exponentially increase your joy and gratitude!
I have found it so helpful to change my perspective in a number of areas. It is said that there is always a silver lining and I do believe that is so – we just have to identify it and claim it!
Practicing vs Playing
In school, we used to refer to our music lessons as practicing. That referred to the scales and chords we ran through, as well as the music pieces we were learning. We typically had a set amount of time that we practiced each day.
Outside of practicing, we would play the piano. This may or may not include what we were learning in school or perhaps it would be something entirely different. To us, accomplished pianists played the piano, it didn’t sound as if they had to run through their drills but rather just tickled the keys so to speak and beautiful music came forth.
Recently I was talking with a lady about this and she commented that she didn’t know if she would ever make it to the delight of simply playing, it always felt as if she was always practicing.
Having been considering one’s perspective in other areas, I offered her a new perspective in this area. Perhaps your idea of practicing is what another hears as playing. And vice versa, maybe another’s playing is to her, simply practicing. Perhaps it is time to let yourself graduate to playing. True, it might sound the same and you may go through all the paces, but maybe it is time to change how you think about it!
It is amazing what doors might open when we expand our thinking and allow ourselves room to make progress! As someone once said, bring your best and leave the details up to God!
The Boutique Lifestyle
I have known several boutique owners. Typically they are attractive ladies and from the outside looking in, one would almost say they live a charmed life. Okay not really, but when you consider different elements of their lives it is quite attractive. They work in a lovely place, the products they work with and photograph are pretty, for the most part their customers are nice and attractive, and the ladies genuinely seem to enjoy what they do. Sounds rather charming, doesn’t it?
Fast forward to today and I’m now a boutique owner. I’ll be the first to tell you it is a lovely place, I have beautiful product to work with and photograph, our customers are nice, and I do enjoy what I do. But on the flip side, it is an enormous amount of work. Some days can be exhausting and quiet, product shipments get canceled, the floor needs to be cleaned, and work has a way of piling up.
Days like that can leave me wondering what happened to that idyllic vision I once had. And then I consider what another might see from the outside looking in and I can’t help but think they would probably see what I once saw, the highs, the perks, the charm of it all. This simple perspective shift can really encourage my heart and remind me how much I enjoy what I have to do!
Make the Most of What You Do
I really think it comes down to making the most of what you do. Finding joy and delighting in what is in front of you. It is said if you can’t be happy where you are then you won’t be happy with where you are going and I think that is so true.
As you work to make the most of what you do, don’t forget to consider that you don’t have to be limited by where you are! Perhaps change is on the horizon! Pray about it, ask God what He would have you do. Sometimes you have have to get uncomfortable where you are in order to change things up and step in to what’s next.
Maybe you have a dream, a vision for what’s next. Do what you can to pursue it! But remember in your dreaming, everything requires work and determination. Good ole American stick-to-it-ive-ness! And as you pursue these dreams, remember the power of your perspective. Appreciate the realization of your dreams and make the most of where you are!
I hope this has inspired you and refueled your delight in what you do!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Keep reading: theamericanlady.com