Isn’t it interesting how the exact same saying can carry such polar opposite meanings? One being something uplifting and positive while another down-trodden and negative.

I was in the direct sun and it was h-o-t. When all of a sudden everything cooled, and I felt immediate relief – a welcome occurrence. And then I looked up…and took the photo to the left.

Have a cloud hanging over your head?

I had always thought of a cloud overhead as inferring negatively and as something more associated with the image to the right…that is until today.

This is a wonderful example of how our perspective shapes our perception, which really does help create our reality.

Many reading this in February 2019 may be thinking what the heck is she talking about, its winter, and cold, and there’s snow on the ground. But, alas, not in Costa Rica and warmer parts of our beautiful world.

Now that I’ve clarified and given you a better point of reference, let’s get back to how much more true control you actually have in creating your own life.

This is good news! You see, you, and only you, get to choose in what way you view any situation, circumstance, conversation, etc.

Like the cloud hanging over my head, I could have been upset that the sun was shaded if I wanted a sun tan just as easy as I was relieved for the momentary coolness (well, cooler anyway.) I chose to find the good. And that in turn made me feel good. I even smiled and became really present, which is why I grabbed my phone and took a photo, because I was so grateful.

Here’s the Facebook post and caption I made today (Feb. 21, 2019) – I just had to share the overwhelming gratitude: “When God provides a cloud just for you as momentary relief from direct sun…Thank you. What reasons can you discover today to smile?

There’s another saying that made me laugh myself silly when I was able to turn it around to the positive: wallowing around like a pig in mud.

I vividly recall the day the shift happened. I was standing in my kitchen, talking with my coach, and realized that I had worked through an old pattern and released a whole lot of stuck energy. That’s when I exclaimed, “I feel like a pig wallowing around in mud. I’m so happy!”

Whereas, just the week or so before I felt like a pig wallowing around in mud and meant that I was wallowing around in self-pity and agony.

Making such dramatic and yet profound shifts is not always immediate. Sometimes we resist and hold on to our crappy feelings. Why? Well, probably because they are familiar.

Changes, even changes for the good, are as easy as we let them be. I’m not denying that life is sometimes challenging and dare I say hard.

Yet, the truth is so simple.

You, me, and each and every one of us, creates our own life. Let’s do it consciously and let’s choose a good life.

One choice, one person at a time, and we change our world so that we look for, expect, and find good. This is the world in which I live. Please come and play with me here.

Should you be in need of a perspective shift, it would be a privilege to support you. You do not have to walk through life with a dark cloud of misery hanging over your head.  Email Karen@KarenPerry.me.

Abound in grace,

Karen