My life-coaching business, “Daybreak Solutions,” was so-named for many reasons, not the least of which is my never-ending love affair with words. (As I’ve mentioned before, one of my nicknames in high school was “Ms. Roget” because I carried a thesaurus around with me and read it for fun.)
So, is your cup half full or half empty? Do you focus on the problem or the solution? Do you view bumps in the road as challenges or opportunities? When life gives you lemons, do you: A) immediately start cursing the lemon tree for producing such tart fruit, B) decide instead to make lemonade, or C) call your mother and beg for her well-guarded recipe for lemon meringue pie?
It’s all about perspective. And mindset. And optimism versus pessimism. And one of my favorite tools: reframing. To reframe, in case you missed that blog last spring, is to look at something from a totally different perspective. And I think I’m pretty good at teaching other people to do that. That’s why I went into life coaching. Instead of “thinking outside the box,” I like to encourage my clients to ask, “What box?”
As we know from checking out the neighbors’ garage sales, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Which, now that I think about it, is probably why so many divorced people end up getting married again.
So which do you focus upon, the donut or the hole? Are you full of doom and gloom, or are you making a conscious effort to walk on the sunny side of the street? For today, I challenge each of you to focus your energies on living in the solution!