Have you faced any challenges lately? If there is anyone out there who has not faced any challenges in recent days, weeks, or months, please let me know. I’d love to hear about it! I’m happy for you, believe me. I know that comparing ourselves to others or resenting their accomplishments or happiness is another means of delaying the creation of our own magical lives. And it actually feels good to appreciate the good things that are going on for other people, whether friends or strangers. 
Feeling happy for the good fortune of others is very high on the vibrational scale, a nice mix of love and appreciation! And, as if that’s not enough, our observation of others who have things in their lives that we desire can line us up to manifest those things!
On the flip side, we all have had some less-than-ideal circumstances to handle. And, it’s not a reflection of us being “bad” at being deliberate creators of our realities. It’s part of the human experience that we chose to embark on so that we could expand and evolve. Expansion and growth are impossible without some contrasting experience to cause us to want something new and different. The new and improved situations that we create due to the difficult circumstances feel better than they would have felt had we not experienced the contrast. The contrast causes us to send out more powerful requests for improvement. It expands our vortex of creation! And, the new and improved becomes bigger and better. 
Our work is looking contrast in the eye and making a decision to move forward. Knowing that we always have the power to move to that better-feeling place is the foundation for getting through those more difficult times. Yes, it’s annoying, it stinks, it feels unfair, and it is sometimes overwhelming, but it’s temporary. We always have the power to pivot and turn it around. And it’s always about finding a new and better perspective on our situation.
I’ve learned that perspective is everything. And, somehow, the word perspective doesn’t sound so challenging or permanent. It’s easy to change! Even the definition of perspective feels easy-breezy:
a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
Attitude? Point of view? I can change that. You can change that. Of course, there are some situations that might require a bit more of a shift in perspective than others. There can be what we might call “big” challenges, but I always suggest trying not to call them big, which creates more of the expectation that the shift will be difficult. Somehow, though, always thinking that a perspective shift is what needs to happen can make even the “big” situations feel less daunting.
So, how do we shift our perspective when we feel like we are overwhelmed? We’ve had it; we don’t know of any move that would feel good. I will, as always, take one for the team and admit to recently having that mind-_____ situation. Yea, mind-blowing. Substitute whatever word feels best to you.
It was a lot. I lost my beloved pet of fifteen years and happened to be in a new place where I had no veterinarian or any of my “people” around to give me support. In a roughly 12-hour period, I went from happily holding my pet to tearfully watching him being put to sleep. Anyone who has had pets they love knows this is never easy.
It was as if that event started a spiral that I was very willing to pile onto with so many other things that hadn’t even been bothering me before. I think my dominant vibe was feeling sorry for myself.
Definitely not a very becoming perspective and very much not a default mode for me. When we realize that every thought that has ever been thought is out there in the soup, so to speak, hovering around waiting for the right vibe to rope it in, it makes sense that a “poor me” vibe attracted all sorts of other ridiculous thoughts that I don’t even believe. The trail of events that occurred during that funk is almost laughable. There were more major and minor incidents. Let’s just leave it at “it was not fun. There was nothing pleasant about it.”
And, I know this stuff! I knew what I needed to do. I knew that beating myself up for my seriously negative vibe was not helpful and that I didn’t deserve more of that. And, as soon as I could see some light ahead, I got on it.
The thing about letting so many aspects of life that would usually be no big deal morph into “everything stinks” is that it might take a bit more work to get to that point where you can change your perspective. But it is the work. It is what works. And, if you can focus on how much you would like to feel better and let that be your mission, things can begin to fall back into place quickly.
On an ordinary day, when perhaps you receive, for example, an annoying email about a bill you already paid (that happened), it can be easy to nip that reaction in the bud and change your perspective from annoying to “things generally work out for me.” I love to use my Daily Tool from How to Allow, https://amazon.com/dp/B08P3BHFP,F covered in more detail there, where I write through the annoying thing until I put it in its proper perspective. It’s easy, and it works. It generally begins with, “it was annoying to get that email when I’ve already paid my bill and now have to spend time on this. I set up auto pay. Wth?” Then my writing generally evolves to a few more sentences and ends with it being a minor mistake and not a big deal, and I know it will be handled easily without much involvement on my part. I would do that before I respond to the “annoying” email. It generally works very well.
Although, when we’re in more of a perfect storm situation, as I described finding myself recently, it might take some small steps to get to the point where you can stop feeling like everything is falling apart and even think about a change in perspective. This progression can be helpful.
Some tips for shifting your perspective:
- Before getting out of bed, think of three things you’re grateful for (easy). There are always a few things to feel grateful for. You could begin with your comfortable bed and home.
- As you open your computer before you begin your day, open your Evidence List and add anything new that has happened that is appreciation worthy. It will remind you that some really good things have happened for you, even recently. And, it will take you back to other things that you may have temporarily forgotten about. Your vibe will go up. It just does. If you don’t know about the Evidence Journal or List that I suggest for all of my coaching clients, check it out in You’re Not Stuck https://amazon.com/dp/B08LFMZ9KL I discuss it in Chapters 6 and 7. It’s magical. It changes the quality of every day in a very good way.
- Have at least a couple of inspirational daily emails you receive, such as Notes from The Universe by Mike Dooley at https://www.tut.com, daily messages from Abraham-Hicks www.abraham-hicks.com or something else from a friendly, reliable source that reminds you that all really is well.
- Connect with another person or persons that understand you, if possible.
- Look for something that you could tweak in your environment that would help you to enjoy your day more. Think about something nice you could do for yourself that you actually enjoy, and that feels good. It cannot fail to create positive momentum.
- Add something to your to-do list that feels like progress, like moving forward, and get it handled or get it started. You will be creating more positive momentum.
- If you catch yourself thinking unhelpful thoughts, remind yourself that Source disagrees, or you wouldn’t feel the negative feelings you are feeling. That nearly always puts at least a temporary stop to the thoughts that might be running rampant. Also, remember that the way forward is to shift to thoughts that feel better without judging yourself. For a go-to list for releasing unhelpful thoughts, see You’re Not Stuck, page 89. Lots of people use it as a screensaver or phone wallpaper.
- Pat yourself on the back for noticing that you could improve your thoughts and consider it progress, not “there I go again.” A pat on the back feels supportive and creates more positive momentum.
- When you begin to create this positive momentum and sustain it for a while, you can arrive at the point where you may actually begin to see some benefits that were born from the perfect storm that you made it through. It probably seemed that no good could possibly have come from that challenging situation. Still, nearly always, there are new insights, unexpected changes for the better, support from others that you might not have predicted, perhaps seeing where you could have heeded messages from your Inner Being that might have averted the challenge, and feeling more tuned into that guidance.
There is also often an unexpected bounce upward that comes from our increased desire for relief that put so much positive energy out into the Universe on our behalf. And, perhaps even more importantly, we also learn that we handled it, grew, and have more power than we knew we had. We fear change less, and we become more proud of ourselves, our abilities, and our resilience. And we learn that we can always change our perspective to one that sees that things really are working out for us, that we have the ability and power to line up with the energy of the Universe that is always working on our behalf.
