Finding treasure in our experiences

This past week has provided many opportunities for getting discouraged, responding with negativity or being buried in overwhelm. It has also held moments of joy, growth and connection. Maybe you know what those weeks are like? How do we live well in these weeks of life? Really, every week of life could fit that description. There are seasons where one extreme or the other weigh heavier in the mix but no week of life is free from the mix of seemingly positive and negative.

I have found that our perspective and response to these experiences in life determine how we experience life in many ways. I can choose to see only the negative and hard. I can choose to focus on the joy and good, even in the hard times. I have known this for a long time but have been reminded to practice this to a new level of late. I am realising that it is in the little moments of life that this is especially important. These little moments add up to the days and weeks.

I have long said that my daughter is my joy mentor. She helps me to see the beauty and fun in each day if I let her. I think this is true of most children. As I write this, I am watching several children with balloons in the lobby of the hotel I am staying in. Their joy is infectious. The reason they are inside right now is that a hurricane is bearing down and the Disney World parks are closed. Plenty of reason to be anxious and upset but instead they are delighting in the bright colours, the floating and dropping (wisely anchored with a weight on the bottom to prevent them flying away) and the games they can create together.

The joy and growth that we dig out in the hard times are precious. They are the treasure that we find in these experiences. We find out who we really are deep down and can surprise ourselves with our own capacity. We meet new people and form connections that we may otherwise have never met. It all comes down to the choices we make in our thinking, the language we use when speaking to ourselves and others and the perspective that we take. So much of our lives is out of our control. Let’s be people who dig deep and find that treasure.