Being human is full of challenges. It’s easy to focus on what’s wrong and get stuck.
We’re programmed to nitpick in school, with points taken away for every mistake made and stacks of rules to keep us in line. Judgment and control run thick in religion, government, and myriad cultural elements. How do we not notice the things that are wrong, or fall into critical thought patterns?
And sometimes you just gotta rant, right? Get it off your chest. There’s immeasurable value in that, especially when you have someone who knows how to listen and can help you laugh about it.
Being able to gather feedback about mistakes is important, of course. We learn from whatever happened, grow, and hopefully don’t repeat the mistake too many times.
Sometimes the only way we know what we want is by finding out what we don’t want. That’s the case whether we’re talking about a job, a partner, a car, a house, or a story that insists on being rewritten multiple times.
The trick is finding the balance between learning from mistakes and looking for a silver lining.
There’s another perspective to life, a flip side to the too-easily found negativity.
Some call it optimism. I like informed optimism. Cautious optimism. I’ve been burned too many times for blind optimism.
It’s important to see what isn’t going on right, but it’s a gift to focus on what is going well. Looking for the beauty in life is a worthy practice, and goes hand-in-hand with gratitude.
For me, the easiest way to immerse myself in the awareness of beauty is to get into nature. Every leaf is a wonder to me. Right now, the poplar and birch trees are turning gold, and the colour against the blue of the sky is magical.
Life is in constant change. Time rolls on, and evolution isn’t always comfortable, but there is often as much good happening as bad. Not that things are usually that black and white.
I think we can all use a reminder to focus on what’s working, what’s wonderful, and where we find gratitude. I know I have to remind myself on a regular basis. It feels better to focus on these things, and the more you do it, the easier it gets to move into that place of gratitude, optimism, or whatever you want to call it.
The trick is finding the balance between learning from mistakes and looking for a silver lining. I also think immersing yourself in beauty is a good thing, like going for a walk in the woods.
