Friday, February 7, 2014

Wanna play the upside down game?



I've been making a conscientious effort to turn life upside down whenever possible. Testing out the theory that there's always another perspective. It hasn't been easy at times but it's proven to be quite an interesting experiment. I wanted to share some of my insights in the hope that you may be inspired to participate in the experiment yourself.

The pity party for me was in full swing before I remembered the experiment. Several sleepless nights were spent tossing and turning feeling frustrated and angry. Thankfully this morning I remembered.

My car is having mechanical troubles and can't be driven causing such annoying inconveniences. Not having the money to make the repairs is even more frustrating.
Turning it upside down: I'm grateful that I am able to use Tayler's car and grateful that her boyfriend can give her a ride back and forth to school.

Our area has been hit really hard with record high snow accumulation. I was complaining that it's only the first week of February and I've already had to use several vacation days.
Turning it upside down: I'm grateful that I have vacation days. The part-time workers in our company don't get vacation days and they have lost several days pay because of the bad weather.

The snow/ice storm this week knocked out our power for 2 days. That means no Facebook, no candy crush, no Instagram, no TV and no video games. Oh... and no cooking (I hate my electric stove!)
Turning it upside down: This upside down moment came from Jake. He didn't mind the power outage because it meant more family time without distractions. I love that kid!

The power outage also meant no heat. With the temperatures in the teens we eventually ended up camping out at grandma's house. I felt bad that she was cooking for us and cleaning up after us and then had to go to work the night shift. I felt bad that the living room was turning into a slumber party and I hi-jacked my nephew’s bed.
Turning it upside down: Seeing the people on the news who had to go to emergency shelters because they didn’t have any place to go made me realize how lucky we are to have family to take us in.

When we finally came home we found that the storm caused a huge branch of our tree to break landing on our shed. The shed is destroyed. The backyard is a mess. The pool has a super thick layer of ice on it.
Turning it upside down: The fact that we have a shed means that we have an abundance of stuff. It’s hard to feel a sense of lack when you realize that some people don’t have anything and we have so much. We can not only fill our home but also a shed with all our stuff. Clearly the universe is telling us it’s time to cut down on the excess.

This upside down game is helping me see the many blessings in my life. Look at that.... There really is another perspective to everything!!

What would you say to your 19-year-old self?

  When I was 19 years old I didn't know a damn thing about life.  I certainly didn't know a damn thing about myself (I just didn'...