Perspective

So today was a fun day, but exhausting in a lot of ways. My mom and I started off the day looking for a new kitten for me to adopt at the animal shelter. I can't exactly say why but I started to get a bit nervous looking at all the kittens. I tried to quickly survey why I would be feeling this way, and I think it was because for the first time in my life, I would be solely responsible for caring for something for the next 20 years. Can't back out, no exit plan.

As I thought about it more I realized that this is just another of many things I've committed to in my life. And I've always followed through, no matter how tough it's gotten for me. I've never been a quitter. So rather than let all the negative thoughts flow over me about what if I can't care for this kitten, what if I don't like it, what if it's a huge pain...I started to focus on all the positives I would get out of it: companionship, cuteness, and fun! Negative things will always come slogging along with positive things, whether that be a new kitten or any other life experience. But I realized, once again, that if I can change my perspective, things become a lot less scary and a lot more enjoyable.

Which leads me to my next story. I also bought a new TV today. The old one was having some issues with the pixels (I'm not tech saavy enough to know exactly what). I just got this new entertainment center that requires mounting the TV to the unit. Because that involves heavy things, screws, and metal, it's right up my Dad's alley and not anywhere near my alley. (I know, I'm an athlete, I should be able to lift things. I can't. I am deceptively weak, and have no upper body strength). My Dad is flying home tomorrow morning, so we figured the TV situation needed to be resolved by the end of tonight. So, after doing some research and consulting with much more knowledgeable friends, I purchased a new Vizio 37 inch HDTV at Costco.

After bringing it home, full of excitement about my new purchase and finally being done with the living room, we ran into a few problems. What was supposed to take 5 minutes, after which the three of us (all starving) would head to dinner, took more like 45. First the TV wouldn't fit on the mount attached to the entertainment unit. When we finally forced it in there, it was really too high up and we were all having to crane our heads up to see it. Then when we got the thing plugged in, the 120 hz speed of the TV made it look like a soap opera, which I felt looked horrible. I tried to ignore it for a while but it was really impossible to ignore. There was a point where I was so frustrated with the whole situation that I wanted to just give up and start sobbing. I was ready to just say take the TV back, give me my old pixelated one. Throw the entertainment unit away, it doesn't fit correctly. Burn it for all I care. All these things ran through my head and I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a major breakdown.

But, just as I forced myself to do 6 hours earlier with the kitten, I once again steered myself away from those negative thoughts and refused to let them completely break me down. I told my Mom how I was feeling, and we consulted with Dad. We ended up being able to change the setting on the TV to get rid of the "soap opera effect" (I found that term after googling the only way I could describe what it looked like and turns out it's a term people actually use!). My Dad also found a way to lower the TV down to a much better level. There was part of the metal contraption on the mount still sticking up over the TV though. According to Dad though, all that needed was purchasing a hack saw and sawing the offending metal parts off.

So, after changing my attitude about the whole thing, and allowing myself to feel hopeful (this TV is gonna work!) instead of completely hopeless (see above), things started to look a lot better. We had a lovely family dinner at KFC/A&W Root Beer (yes, it was a truly winning combination), purchased our hacksaw, and came back home. Dad easily sawed off the metal sticking out, and now the TV looks absolutely great. When I look back on the day, I try to remind myself of two things. First, there were several times in the day where I felt absolutely horrible and thought things could only go downhill. Second, I overcame each of those feelings, and I lay here now at the end of the day feeling pretty good.

Why do those things matter? Because it reminds me that every day won't be perfect. There will be days I feel pretty bad. The "bad" feeling may take different forms. But I'll get through it, and soon after, I might feel great. If I can just get myself through those bad feelings by focusing on my perspective toward them, the positive is just lingering around waiting to be felt.

All Star of the Day: Papa Poyer the Non-Lawyer for putting in serious hours, effort, and positive attitude ("get the Phillips head screwdriver Amy and just jimmy rig the metal part in there and it'll work").