2/1/13

Get Up. Move. Live.


Hanging on the wall in my office, there is a picture of a tree that changes color and definition to reflect the four seasons. As you walk by the angle of the print causes the tree to shift from a winter scene of bare branches and snow, through sprouting spring foliage, the full greening of summer and then the autumn leaves of fall. From my desk seat, it always looks like autumn.



I like seeing the different images of the picture. The variety, changing colors and shapes offers a nice change from what is often the static unchanging art of an office space. There are times when I will just move to a different place in my office to see and enjoy the picture differently. It isn't that I don’t like seeing the fall tree, I do. I like seeing the other images, too.

Here’s my thought: My living is often the same way. It is easy to settle into the same routine, the same patterns of moving through life and soon – everything seems to look stagnant. In the same way I have to get up and move to a different place in my office to see the variety of the tree picture, I can move to a different place in my living to see life with new colors.

From a simple move, like visiting a different coffee shop, to a more dramatic change, like ending or starting a new relationship, we can experience the very different seasons of our living. I’m not advocating change for change sake, but I am encouraging myself to remember that sometimes I need to move a little and change my perspective in order to appreciate the rich variety of life.

I sat in a meeting yesterday with a successful local entrepreneur – a very rich man. He was clearly tired, almost exhausted throughout the meeting. After we had finished our business discussions, the conversation shifted as he explained his fatigue. He had spent the previous evening volunteering at a local homeless shelter. As he begin to tell the tale of his time helping others that night his energy lifted, his spirit soared and the conversation moved me to a different place. The business of life glowed more brightly than the drab hues of the previous conversation about his business.

Get up. Move. See. Enjoy.

4 comments:

  1. So true. It is so easy to settle into our own comfort zone, and suddenly realize that weeks, months, years have passed us by. I heard a saying once, I'm not sure who said it now, that we should do something we fear everyday. That might be a little drastic, but we should at least step outside our routine to experience the possibilities so close at hand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt who is credited with that quote, but I could be wrong.

      You are one of the people I look to for inspiration on 'stepping outside.' Thank you!

      Delete
  2. Didn't know you had this blog as well - but I like it. Very well written!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There you are again! Yes, this one goes along with the book I published last year. It's from my dark and sorted past. :)

      Delete

Leave a comment. It's not like I'm asking you to write on a stone tablet or anything.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.