A Pog In My Pocket

     How complex we are; each one of us a unique personality with our own perspectives to claim.

Sometimes we're grateful for them.
Beauty suddenly pops out at us where we've looked blankly a thousand times before!
Sometimes we're crippled by them.
Beauty is no where to be found through the darkening clouds rolling in off the limitless horizon.

     And occasionally we stumble upon situations that force us to acknowledge just how much we are at the mercy of our 'point of view'.    We see the action we can take to turn a situation around and it all points back to the attitude we decide to claim.   These situations are far more complex than just 'half full/half empty' thinking as experiences, decisions and pressures create in us a completely different person from one day to the next.  Optimists aren't always optimistic and sometimes pessimists find hope.

      I've recently discovered that my perspective toggles back and forth between 'I only get to do this once' and 'I only have to do this once'.  The events, tasks, experiences and risks range from small piddly things like 'first day on the  job excitement/jitters' to grand scheme topics such as existence itself.  And the perspectives of 'only get to' and 'only have to' both take their turns depending on who I am that day.  Sometimes I can see the same situation in a different light on a different day

Ex/ Pulling weeds vs. playing in the garden for the only spring this year will see.
The same task is accompanied by different angles. The 'I only have to pull these weeds once' vs. the 'I only get to enjoy this season now before it changes'.

     I'd be lying if I said I enjoy the responsibility of having to find a reason to get through a day where the only thing that keeps me going is the hope that 'I only have to live once'.  I used to be a 'You only get to live once' person.
So I've come across a trick to refocus my perspective and reset my stance on top of the mighty wall that stands between living and existing.

     Here I perch, above two versions of my particular circumstance.  Down on the left side, I see the bleak existence that 'must be' and down to my right I see the bright reality of 'what is'.  Aside from being viewed through different attitudes, they are the same.  They both will come to pass.  They both bring the same risks and consequences as well as asking for the same amounts of effort and sacrifice.  And whenever I find myself aware enough to perch myself on the wall, I always choose to jump to the right.  I think most people do the same.  The problem is in being aware of myself enough to remember that I can always jump back up onto that wall that overlooks the two scenarios and allows me the awareness of choosing.  This is where my 'trick' comes in.

     A coin, a card, a pog (remember pogs?!) a two-sided anything will suffice to be a weekly, daily or hourly reminder that for every moment we are alive we get to choose between living and existing.  Me?   I haven't settled on what I'm using as my reminder yet.  Perhaps I'll put two different colored rings on a string and hang it from my rear view mirror.  Or maybe I'll braid together two strong colors of ribbon to keep around my wrist as I'm in need of hourly reminders lately.  For now, I think I'm going to finish my bottle of Smart Water and keep the cap in my pocket.

     I live a very wonderful life.  I know this.  I am grateful for my life, but I am human.  I'm selfish.  I'm tired.  Sometimes, I'm at the end of my optimism.  This simple trick puts me back at the beginning.  I regain control by reminding myself that indeed, I am in control.

This is the May 2013 challenge at www.inspiringchallenges.blogspot.com (The H2/G2 Challenge) for all of us who would benefit from regaining a perspective of living to bring us out of attitudes of existing.