No bad years

2020. Goodbye and good riddance? Well, no.

How could this be considered a good year? With a little shift in perspective.

I’m not blind to the pain we felt this year.

The pressure on businesses, the removal of our freedoms, the incompetencies of our leaders, what our kids have been through, those that lost their jobs, and those that lost their lives.

I can’t ignore these things. And it wouldn’t benefit me to try.

What I can choose is my perspective.

Take a look at the cubes below.

Which panel is closest to you? Bottom left (highlighted in the middle cube), or top right (highlighted in the final cube)?

The cube is the same. We see it differently.

With a little effort, you can choose which panel you want to see at the front. And you can switch back and forth. Try it again here:

And so it is with perspective. We make a choice, and we alter what we see.

Blocking out the terrible events of this year isn’t possible, or advisable. I’m not suggesting a blinkered approach to life, in the same way I’m not asking you to ignore the existence of the panel no longer in focus.

We know it still exists. We aren’t blind to it. And we aren’t changing reality.

We’re choosing the perspective we take.

Just allow your mind to shift back and forth. Don’t settle too long on one perspective.

Rolling news, too much time on social media, and a lack of gratitude, will all help feed into a focus that’s entirely from a negative perspective. Find ways to shift away for a bit… see the other panel on the cube for a while.

For me that looks like abstaining from the news, moderating time on social media, keeping a small gratitude journal, and finding ways to be present (walking in the woods is top of my list).

There’s a temptation to kick 2020 out the door, with a few choice words as it leaves.

Before you do, understand there are no bad years. We choose our perspective.