What do you think of when you hear the phrase “gated entrance”? I imagine something grand…tall and wide iron gates with decorative pickets and pointed finials on top. The gates are supported by large stone columns surrounded by beautiful flowers and tall grasses. Behind the gates is a long driveway lined with trees. Just because this is what I imagine doesn’t mean that it is reality. You may have an entirely different perspective. Your idea of a “gated entrance” might look different. And guess what? You’re not wrong, you just have a different perspective/perception than I do. And, it’s okay!
That is what An Inconvenient Life is about….perspective. The all-knowing Google tells us that perspective is a particular attitude toward or way of regarding; a point of view. These views and beliefs are shaped by many factors including how we were raised; our life’s experiences and how we perceive things to be. Our perception is our reality. But what if we stepped outside of ourselves for a minute and saw things from someone else’s perspective?
Why the name An Inconvenient Life? I often find myself complaining (several times each day) about small annoyances or inconveniences in my comfortable middle-class life. The first time I caught myself really giving any thought to it was while putting my clean socks away. I had too many socks and I was going to have to grow from one drawer to two drawers just for socks. First of all, it’s dumb for me to have that many socks and what’s even worse? That I was annoyed that I had to reorganize my dresser drawers to accommodate them. Who has time for that?!
In one of my not so finest moments, I said to my husband that if someone could be annoyed to death……Well, I’ll leave it at that. I have had to get over that BAD ATTITUDE and realize that the things I am annoyed by are in my own head!
I have learned that when I get annoyed to take a minute to really take a step back and think about it. Whether big or small annoyances, in the grand scheme of life, these things really shouldn’t even cross our minds, much less annoy us. We should be beyond thankful for the blessings of this life and the privilege to be so annoyed!
I hope to challenge you over time to take time to look at things from a different perspective. Maybe by looking at things in a different way, we can change our interactions with other people, change our bad attitudes and change the way we look at the lives of others, even through our differences.
Love and Let 