Mindset
I’ve been unwell the past week and a bit. Combined with increasing frustration at work and this damn flu going through the household; I haven’t been in the most positive of moods.
But I’m able to sit here on a fresh but lovely spring day. Sunshine hitting my skin is rejuvenating, while a slight breeze ensures the sun is not overpowering. Delicious coffee from a local cafe, all reminding me how lucky I have it.
I’ve been too focused on the negative. I don’t need to ignore the things that aren’t working, pretending that they don’t exist; I need to ensure those don’t become my primary view and consume me.
Wary that this choice of mindset is an absolute position of privilege. The world is an increasingly scary place for many just trying to exist. My ultimate hope for the world remains: that people don’t need to have courage to live authentically.
It certainly feels like we are drifting further away from that. In the midst of this, it is very easy to lose sight of hope.
I have very little impact on this world. What I do have an impact on is which version of myself I bring to those in my life. If the version I bring to my loved ones is one of increasing frustration at minor life inconveniences; how can I be disappointed when they mimic this mindset?
I recently heard an interview with National Geographic Photographer Dewitt Jones, and the mindset he is known for which is to celebrate what’s right in the world. It’s not an ignorance of difficulty or injustice, but a discipline to focus on the good. To build up a reservoir of hope to call on when challenges need to be tackled.
My current hope is to learn and build this discipline.