My life on the P list!

You never know how another person feels until you "walk in their shoes"- how many times have we heard that one? Many, at least, in my case. If I could change something about people, even at times about myself, is that of judging a person without first completely knowing, whole-heartedly understanding what they have gone through, what makes them do, act, be.

What makes woman act reserved and come across as rude? Is it because she is indeed reserved by nature or is she plain, ol' rude? Maybe it's because she doesn't like you? Maybe is because she is having a bad day or is it because her mother suddenly died and you keep rambling about how much you argue with your mother on a day to day basis. Pause and think for a moment. I'd like to tell woman no. 2 to change the subject or be a bit more sensitive. To have a bit of perspective and try to think of what woman no. 1 has gone through.

This past weekend I celebrated an "anniversary" of some sort. I call it an anniversary because for some reason I remember certain events that, while may seem mundane and meaningless for some,  mean the world to others, to me. My anniversary was about perspective. Not that I didn't have any before, but after experiencing a few life- shaking, personally mind-boggling moments of WTF, God?, I gained a heck of a lot more of it; perspective, that is.

Perspective is meant to teach us to look at things from a different angle, with a different outlook, with different eyes, almost. It's not easy and it not usually happening at the moment we want it. We don't go around saying "let me go get some perspective today".Or "I will give you some perspective." Or can we?

I am not that old (Hey now! My birthday post was back in November- read it and you'll know how I feel about getting older! LOL) but have experienced a few things that without them being planned - who the hell plans life anyway? --my cousin Juan Carlos would appreciate that statement!-- made me look at things from a completely different perspective. I lost my mother when I was 12. I have been married. I have had a child; I have had my marriage dissolved; I owned and rent; have traveled the world and have an intense desire to continue; have even hiked part of the Appalachia Trail through the Shenandoah National Park.

DISCLAIMER- There is a very fine line, a gray line, a muddy line or any other kind of line risky enough that may paint me as arrogant with an air to boast. Never in the world do I ever want to come across as that. In my heart of hearts, I know I am not. These amazing and unforgettable life events are those "anniversaries" I celebrate. It's life. It's happened to me and if out of these experiences I can bring a little bit of perspective to other situations, so be it. So if you have experienced LIFE, as only YOU know it, it's OK. You have gained perspective. Use it, share it, appreciate it, for the greater good.

My life on the P list (yes, P for Perspective) sure got more interesting this year. I even appreciate the word itself even more. Today at work we were talked to about perspective. There was this book. We had to "read" it but there were no words, only pictures. The first image turned out to be smaller on the next page, then on the next page and so on... By page 12, the original image of a little girl playing with dolls was a tiny spec on a cruise ship, that was on a stamp, that was on an advertisement on a bus. Moral of the story: when we take the time to look at things from the outside looking in, from a different point of view, something that seemed big is actually very small. So face it. Deal with it, the best way you can.

We get caught up in the daily stresses of work, homework, classwork, housework, and every other kind of work we tackle. It's life, we deal. Can we do a better job at it? Of course. Can we avoid stressing out, or overreacting? Sure! But, remember, overreacting in my family is part of our DNA- yikes! God, watch over me- LOL! :) Like I used to ask my students, what's the point??  The point today is stop, step back and before the knee-jerk reaction takes full control of your actions (yeah, mine too!), look at the situation, if you can, from the other person's perspective. The pressure may not be all on you. All you can do is use your own life, experience and lessons learned to share your perspective and get through the day.  I enjoy life on the P list. I hope you do too!