“The view changes from where you are standing." Neil Gaiman

I was driving my teen back to school after an appointment (emergency orthodontist, but more on that later) and I saw these kids in mufti clothes going into a takeaway and asked "Are they from your school?" The teen looked at me, as only teens can, and said "Mum, they're like 30!". I countered 'No, they're not. 20 at the oldest!'. 'One of them was wrinkly' was the reply. 30 year olds are apparently considered wrinkly to a fresh young teen and 30 year olds are as youthful as schoolkids to an antiquated old broad like myself. Same people, two completely different perceptions.

We had three trips to the orthodontist in a week - the practice is 45 minutes from our house (don't ask). I'd been feeling very sorry for myself, all that driving, all that time wasted to repair something that had just been checked a few days before. However, I overheard this snippet of conversation and immediately realised my good fortune. 

"I can't believe you lost your plate in less than a week. You haven't even paid for it yet"

As I've discussed before, sometimes the secret to happiness is as simple as being in the right chair. Same scenario for us, but the view changes when put in a different perspective. Ours was just a hassle, and lost time (and $50). Theirs, a scary amount of money blown in less than a week.

It is worth remembering that we never really see the same thing as each other, because we are seeing it with different eyes. More importantly, sometimes we need to reframe how we see things in the first place.

It's a good reminder that if you don't like your view, you can shift position. It may be hard, but little by little it will make a difference.

Linking with #Lifethisweek

Adding this picture to this old posr as it has been my view for the last three months or so....in lockdown it is the most familliar thing in this tiny world of only familliarity....