Tag: perspective

In response to Cory’s challenge

In a recent post there is a line from Cory’s blog that I feel compelled to answer. He said:

“I’ve always been a little irritated by people who insist on finding a silver lining in every crappy situation they face, though. Those people are noble, inspiring, and worthy of emulation, but also sometimes just a little bit too good to be true.”

The difference between he and me is our perspective. I understand the long range goal is eternity. I have cut and pasted words from the talk given by D. Todd Christofferson: The Power of Covenants

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“Our access to that power is through our covenants with Him. A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God.”

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“All this is not to say that life in the covenant is free of challenge or that the obedient soul should be surprised if disappointments or even disasters interrupt his peace. If you feel that personal righteousness should preclude all loss and suffering, you might want to have a chat with Job.”

“This brings us to a second way in which our covenants supply strength—they produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord. Our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ and keep His commandments requires a degree of faith, but as we honor our covenants, that faith expands. In the first place, the promised fruits of obedience become evident, which confirms our faith. Secondly, the Spirit communicates God’s pleasure, and we feel secure in His continued blessing and help. Thirdly, come what may, we can face life with hope and equanimity, knowing that we will succeed in the end because we have God’s promise to us individually, by name, and we know He cannot lie “(see Enos 1:6; Ether 3:12).

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“We need strong Christians who can persevere against hardship, who can sustain hope through tragedy, who can lift others by their example and their compassion, and who can consistently overcome temptations. We need strong Christians who can make important things happen by their faith and who can defend the truth of Jesus Christ against moral relativism and militant atheism.“

May you find the silver linings in your life.


ve

Perspective and Gardening

Dr. C’s Journey with PD – a column by Dr. C from: Parkinson’sNewsToday.com

I hate exercise! Both my pain and fatigue increase when I exercise. These are disabling Parkinson’s disease symptoms, and both trigger the fight-or-flight response that often manifests as “the grouch.” I have not found an easy way of exercising with Parkinson’s pain and fatigue, but I have found ways to shift my perspective. Shifting perspective opens up the possibility of experiencing enjoyment from exercise.

One of the most important parts of a Parkinson’s wellness map is exercise. But here’s the catch: It’s difficult to do with regularity. We know it works! Yet, knowing what is good for wellness is not the same as doing it. The doing part of exercise — showing up three to four times a week — is difficult with all the chronic disease barriers. It’s easy to feel defeated before even starting.

The way around this apparent Catch-22 is to shift one’s perspective on exercise. I mentioned the idea of shifting perspective in connection to wellness in a column about moments of well-being. The shift I need with regard to exercise is one that will get me off the sofa and into exercising. I am not getting off the sofa to do something I hate, but rather to do an enjoyable, creative project that involves exercise: landscaping to produce gardens. It’s a good exercise to keep the trunk strong, which helps prevent falls.

It takes a bit of perseverance to get into my work clothes, strap on the heavy work boots, find the hat and sunglasses, and then head out the door. Surveying the work ahead — which is sometimes a bit daunting — I start with light work to warm up. Walk, then shovel, and maybe rake, before getting behind the wheelbarrow to move gravel or dirt from one location to another. Pause to hear the birds sing, marvel at the variety of flower blooms and fragrances. Pretty quickly, the world slips away, replaced by the Zen of gardening.

My Fitbit reminds me when a time for medication is coming up and keeps track of my heart rate. I take lots of water breaks! By the time two hours have passed, my work shirt is drenched with sweat — as much as, if not more than, the amount of water I’ve consumed. In the Zen garden moments, the mind is free of the worries of Parkinson’s and vision problems. That feeling remains with me, not as a false euphoria, but as a deep-rooted sense of well-being.

There are many ways that shifting perspective can open wellness possibilities. A nurse shared a wonderful example. She was a smoker from her early teen years, and now in her 30s, she decided to quit. Six months without a smoke and she says, “I had this memory of how much I enjoyed smoking.” So, she bummed a cigarette and immediately got sick from smoking it. Recounting the event, she says, “I can remember the horrid feeling as clear today as if it just happened. I never had the urge to smoke again after that.” She shifted her perspective from enjoying smoking to thinking of it as a horrid, sickening experience. Shifting perspective opened up the possibility of wellness.

The ability to shift perspective may also improve our ability to adapt to stressful times and to become more resilient, and therefore more open to new possibilities. The shifting of perspective causes us to shift our focus to a new intention, a new possibility. I hated exercise, and my intention was to avoid it. The shift in perspective offered the new intention of enjoyment and the possibility of a beautiful garden, along with a healthier body, in spite of the chronic disease limitations.