Saturday, March 31, 2012

Pessimist, Optimist, and Realist.....

In the last week or so I have ran across some quotes that for me rang true. I've spent some time on these words and my interpretation of them. I'll just address one for today...

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change;the realist adjust the sails" William A Ward

At some point haven't we been a little bit of all of these characters?

It's so easy for us to fall into the pessimist mindset when life doesn't go our way. People love to complain and want others around them to join in on the pity party. Let's take a look at that option though.... What does this really do for us? Does it fix the problem? Does voicing our miserable situation make us feel better? Maybe it does make us feel better for a short run, but the complaints won't be the end solution. We tend to constantly run the scenario in our head over and over, dwelling, and obsessing over it until we've built it up that it takes on a life of its own. Honestly, no one wants to keep a pessimist as company they only bring people down.

It's great to be an optimist right?!? Atleast this outlook is not dripping with negativity and we are on the upswing with high hope and expectation! Unfortunately hoping for something with a smile on our face can only get us so far. How long will we hold onto the hope before we let go of the grip?

The realist will look at the situation they are handed and consider all the solutions. They become motivated by an optimistic view. The difference between them and an optimist is they will take that smile, glimmer of hope, and put it into action to see the change.

Life has it's challenges, but we get to choose how we will handle it. It's our choice every.single.time.! No one can take that away from you. It's encouraging when we can look at something in our life and we choose to turn the crisis into an opportunity. An opportunity to find the lesson, to learn, to share it with others that may encounter the same situation, and most importantly change it on our terms.

Until the next time.....

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

LaYeRs

I was cooking the other night and as I was cutting up the onions I started to compare it to life. I am sure this has been said before in some shape of form, but I want to share my thoughts.

We at some point are very much like an onion during certain seasons of our lives. As we peel back the layers it causes discomfort and brings tears to our eyes. The more we peel the more it stings, burns, and we rush through the agony to make it stop. It's normal and unavoidable reaction to the process. To truly heal the layer we must face it head on and start to peel it back to get the result our hearts desire.

For myself there are layers that I thought were long gone and I have come to realize that maybe it wasn't just one particular layer....maybe it was multiple layers that were hidden deep to its' core.

Eventhough the layers are sometimes painful when you get through them they add flavor to your life in some sense. They've made you who you are and enlightened you on who you strive to be. So I welcome the peeling of my layers because I know that in the end I will come out on the other side to something beautiful!