All in the Perspective

it's funny the way we perceive life sometimes. it's a lesson i've been learning all week. for mere human beings with only a three-dimensional understanding, we sure credit ourselves for knowing alot of stuff when we really don't know anything at all. often times we jump to conclusions or maybe we just see things in a negative light. you can look at any situation just as you can look at any person and you can see whatever it is you want to see. it's almost like looking at a painting or reading poetry. the artist or author may have an intended purpose for the work, but you see in it what you want to. and so we go about our busy lives every day, doing the things that must be done. we see life from a perspective. now this perspective is quite complex in its stucture and can be noted as having great sway over our character. what do you see in a day? at the end of the day when someone asks you genuinly how your day was and you tell them, what is it that you pick out? alot of times we only think about the bad things that have happened to us, and some days that can be really easy. for me, i have the hardest time being positive on a cold rainy day with early classes, a heavy work load, and lots of extracarricular stuff to do. if something bad happens to me on top of that, i feel almost cheated, and i aquire a sort of bitterness. but what's the problem here. it's not the exterior, but the interior that is at fault.

i would dare say that there are just as many, if not more, positive things that happen to you on your worst day, than there are bad. now of course i'm willing to elasticise this statement being that there are some pretty bad days out there, but 99.9% of it is perspective. my theory is that we look past the things that are good maybe because they are regular and comfortable to us. it's sort of like that principle i can't remember the name of that involves our nervouse system. when you wear cloths, for example, you initially feel those cloths sliding on, but a few seconds later, you are totally, except for the idea that you are wearing cloths, unaware of their presence. this can be changed with simple concentration, but the reason this is so is because if we felt everything on the surface of our skin, our brains would overload and we would go nuts. irregularities are the only sensations the brain takes note of. try to apply that understanding now to your life. think about all of the good things you have that you either take for granted, or that you have become numb to because of their regularity. you're so comforable and snug in your "blanket of goodness" we shall call it, that you just don't notice it anymore. now the irregularities that come about are comonly negative to your perspective, and being that you have become numb to the positive in your life, your mind has a whole lot of capacity to focus on these few bad things, blowing them way out of proportion.

immagine with me, if you will, that you have just gotten out of the shower, you get dry and then go to the laundry room to put on nice, freshly dried undies, socks, pants, and a shirt. all of the sudden, a ninja flies out from behind the dryer and karate punches you in the face FOR NO GOOD REASON. Are you still thinking about how nice that shower was and how great those cloths felt? NO! at the end of the day when someone asks you how things went, you're probably going to say "horrible! i got punched in the face by a ninja FOR NO GOOD REASON!"

now immagine on a more serious level. the police come to your house, arrest you for unknown charges, drag you to jail away from your family, your bed, and your meals. there, you sit in a hole with no running water, no heating, air, or ventilation. you are now... uncomfortable. this is officially a negative experience. why? because now you are aware of what comforts you had because they are gone. now you can see just how many good things you posessed. you are, in a sense, "naked".

so now we have to have an attitude check. are we really that conceited and prideful? i know i can be. we take things for granted often times because we feel like we deserve them, when the truth is, we deserve nothing. each one of us knows that in our innermost core. the question is whether or not we take that seriosly. the truth of the matter is "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." none of our comforatbilities are eternal except for the knowledge and faith we have in Jesus. everything you have can potentially be erased tomorrow.

summarize: in conclusion, i'd say negative attitudes are conceited and prideful. the trick is keeping your mind tuned to the positive things, not taking any one thing for granted. on cold rainy days with lots to do, you have to attempt to find good hiding even in the apparently bad situations, and when no good can be found, you should then attempt to dwarf its size by the blessings you have received and are aware of. piont in case: Job. he had everything taken away from him and STILL praised God. he saw that what little he had still surpassed the negative occurances in his life. that is something i truly aspire to. Paul also talks about contentment in all things which is another aspiration of mine. for now though, i'm probably going to hit the sack and sleep in all day tomorrow. i'm going to have to do my laundry soon, so i hope no ninjas are hiding in the basement. but seriously think about that. it's been an interesting train of thought for me this week that i thought i might share with you. peace and love.