“Use the wings of the flying Universe, choice is optionalYou know it's funny, I didn't really expect to feel overwhelmed in the slightest this summer with all that I have going on - but the truth of the matter is that it is a little overwhelming... If I let it be. See, I spent my entire week running all over the place, in meetings, postponing appointments, and getting started on fundraisers and other programs I'm helping to run, and not once did I look at it in the moment with distaste or ungratefulness. Now, I could've been salty if I wanted to - especially because of the feelings of worry and immediacy that flooded in through my ears after I got off shift or out of a meeting, but honestly I'm just thankful for the beautiful things I get to be apart of this summer. This outlook did not come unhelped, in fact, it was due to external help. Little shout-out to my husband, Aiden, for re-calibrating my attitude to choose gratefulness and enthusiasm over the pessimism and burden I was feeling; his words shifted something crucial in my brain on Thursday morning, "Rebekah," he said, "you don't even know that today is going to be a bad day, today could be an incredible day for you! But you won't be able to enjoy that unless you get rid of these pessimism goggles you have on." Now, as pretext, I was not completely angry or anything about going to work - I was just a little on edge because of how daunting a 12-hour day looked to me from the start line. The fact was that once I started running the race, the end goal looked smaller and smaller, and more attainable. The point? Our subjectivity about a circumstance is simply that - subjectivity. We can choose how to approach our circumstance, and we can change how we feel about it even if it still ends up being terrible. The means to the end does not have to be set in stone, and you can change the reality of your day by first making your attitude a choice. Oh, empirical emotionChanging how you feel is two-fold, and usually an incomplete process. This is because when it comes to human emotion, we carry both a subjective outlook as well as physiological emotions. The two are one in the same but also vastly different; while they both influence your attitude similarly, they have different sources of energy. Your outlook on life is due to a story you tell yourself about your reality, your emotions are chemical reactions that inflict a story to tell yourself, they give an empirical foundation to whatever story you're telling yourself (whether it be paranoia, anxiety, depression, lack of self-confidence, pessimism, etc.). The hardship is coming to the conclusion that we can only fully 'fix' one: your subjective outlook. Unless you have medications or finely-tuned dietary choices that specifically aid your physiology in producing positive emotions, there's no way to silence the voices of your chemical brain. The resulting ideas, though, those are up to you. It comes down to sampling rational evidence and concepts against your empirical awareness to change your approach; and everyone knows that having a better attitude toward something makes it easier to indulge. crushing a mediocre societySo say we all get together, John and Yoko-like, trying to change the world's collective outlook on seemingly 'hard things'. Now say we make some ground with it, say we have a considerable influence in redefining optimism, how far would we get? We could change 100, 1000, maybe 100,000 outlooks for the better? But how long would that last? It wouldn't. The call I'm putting on you to change your outlook and becoming the master of your emotions isn't some hyper-truthful reality of the future, it's just a matter of trying to do the best you can with what you've got. Don't leave this rant of mine with the idea that you, your family, and your cows all have to appreciate what you've got because nothing is hard, rather I simply encourage you to recognize that like William Ernest Henley states, ' you can be the master of your fate,' to some degree. There is subjectivity within your subjectivity, and choice within your outlook, and once you recognize how available that steering-wheel is to you, you on your own can be the light of optimism and maturity in a mediocre society. Don't see the obstacles before you see the opportunity. Happy Saturday friends.
- Rebekah
2 Comments
5/28/2019 04:36:52 am
Timing is everything - I was reading this blog post shortly after seeing a Facebook meme warning of the dangers of "future-living" (depending on "the next" job, home, partner etc. to magically make everything better). One very important lesson I've learned, and had reinforced over the past two years since leaving my full-time media job, is that God has a lot for us to learn - and to enjoy - at every step of the journey He has us on. But it's up to US to have the attitude and acceptance necessary to accept these gifts and blessings. Hope you are feeling these moments even as you prepare for such a busy summer, Rebekah.
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Rebekah Thomas
5/28/2019 10:54:28 pm
God really does have so many lessons for us, and I agree that it’s important we take on a humility and gratefulness to appreciate such blessings!
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