Perspective.

The following is an article I first wrote for my church newsletter for the December 2006 issue.


Over the last month I've been working my way through The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, I've finished Vol. I and I can now tell you the plot to every Sherlock Holmes story ever written. Here you go... Someone comes to good old 221-B Baker Street with a set of events/facts. These all add up to person A being guilty of something, ol’ Sherl sees the facts from some off the wall viewpoint and puts them together to show that in actuality person B is really the guilty party. He then employs various ways of proving himself right.



I'm not a big fan of Halloween, it's seemed to me that it just encourages greed and gluttony...things we try to teach our kids to avoid. However, wanting to allow my 3 year old some fun and not be known as "that mother" -- you know, the mean one who doesn't allow anything "unwholesome" (read enjoyable) in the house -- I tried to find some way to celebrate this non-holiday with a good message. So, instead of going out and collecting a bunch of candy (no I wouldn't let him eat it anyway) we stayed on our front porch and gave candy away. He had a blast!! He loved seeing all the costumes and got a big kick out of putting candy in the various containers....or throwing it at the folks when too excited. Since we had approx 100 folks come through our neighborhood in the 2 hours we were out there he saw many fun costumes and had many folks exclaim over him. He actually looked a LOT happier than the kids (and adults) that were busy filling up their pillowcases. As we sat there refilling our bowl to be sure we didn't run out of candy ("Need more candy for kids mom!!") It went through my head that it truly is better to give than to receive. Sonshine learned all about giving and I enjoyed a very nice greed and gluttony free Halloween.



OK, we've all heard the glass half full or half empty bit before. But, truly, something as simple as a change in the perspective you're viewing a set of facts/events from could change the way the whole picture looks. My Grandma used to say that we decide each morning if we're going to be happy that day. Also known as "You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in." As we spend the end of this year reviewing the events that have passed, let's try to look at them from a different perspective. Maybe it isn't so much the event itself that is bothersome as much as how we are viewing it.

I challenge each of us to start the new year off deciding to be happy with whatever comes our way. And keep looking for just how to make lemonade out of that great big lemon you've been handed.



Love you

Sarah



"When someone gives you free fertilizer for your garden, you don't complain about the smell." Earlene Fowler