Perspective

A week ago I noticed that there was a open spot in the family room where the Christmas tree had been. I’m not sure what was there before, I don’t remember.  It seemed weird to me that I had never really, or at least I didn’t remember, having been in that spot. I backed my chair into it, and with my back to the wall, looked back at the family room.

The same, and yet different. It’s the same room, but from an unfamiliar perspective. Twelve years I have lived in this house, and I can’t remember seeing it from this angle.

It reminded me of the time my van had been in the shop and I decided to drive my chair home. I was working downtown at the time. Driving home in my van took me along Riverside drive every single day. I swore I knew every single inch of that drive. Every house, every tree, every landmark. Such a beautiful drive had become routine and often boring.

Driving my chair home along the same route was a surprising experience.  I remember thinking “Wow, that house has a beautiful garden, how did I not notice that before?” and “Hey look at THAT house, I never noticed it before hidden amongst those trees”.  The entire ride home was filled with new discoveries, and the only difference was that I was moving more slowly and sitting a little closer to the ground.

In late November,  I was blessed to find a good job in a great company. There are aspects of it that are worse than my last job. There are many aspects of it that are much better. I truly enjoy what I do now, and I enjoy the contact with customers, which was not an element of my last position. I know I am incredibly lucky to have found something when so many are looking without success.

The experience of being unemployed for almost two years, and being very close to having no income at all, has given me perspective. It’s so much easier to accept even the most negative aspects of this new position, and my appreciation for the positives, which are many, is so much deeper.

This will fade over time I’m sure. Routine will creep in. I’m already wishing there were an alternative route to work. But the experience with the open spot in my own home has reminded me to keep looking for that different perspective. To not be fooled into believing things are the way they are and that’s just the way they are. There’s always a new way to look at it,  I just have to get myself to that spot.