Knock it off! A little Perspective

Perspective is a good thing!

Perspective from a Dog's view

Knock it off!  Life can be good if you let it be. Look for positive moments, no matter how small. Ignore what you think others think of you. Celebrate little triumphs. Breathe deep and find new Life perspectives. Our selfie-culture makes random strangers’ opinions more important than our own. Instead, celebrate that which makes you unique, happy, centered, healthy and wise.

Stop. Look up from your mobile devils – er devices! Look around. Step back from social media and ask what you desire; what you deserve in your life; what makes you successful and happy. Hint: it’s not 20,000 followers. It’s human contact. One-on-one conversations. Meaningful dialog. Interesting activities that engage more than your two thumbs.

Three thoughts:

  •      Don’t worry what others think.

    They aren’t thinking about you. Don’t give yourself too much credit. Focus instead on being who your dog thinks you are…

If you think people are paying so much attention to you, ask random people to recap what you posted 10 days ago. (No fair looking!) They. Don’t. Know.  Ask what you wore last week. Same response: Shrug. Focus on those who really matter: family, close friends, clients, those who can help you and those who need your support.

  • Stop putting things off for “some day.”  How long do you think you have?

Perspective: life looks small from here
Flying over the Alaskan glaciers

Every year I have this goal: “I want to learn two new things this year, and one of them should scare me a little.”

I’m a pilot. While in Alaska a few years ago, I jumped at the chance to fly in a home built Supercub over the glaciers. It was the thrill of a lifetime. Scary too! See those snowshoes in the photo above? Those are attached to the wing in case we crashed and had to hike out! Yikes! Scary and so amazing!

What’s your goal? What’s on your bucket list? What do you do each year to give you more perspective on life? How long do you think you have?

  • perspective life and death
    People did something to insure your freedom. Respect that!

        Be grateful – every day.

For every little thing: paved roads, indoor plumbing, lights that work, people who are willing to protect you, farmers and ranchers who grow your food, a roof over your head. Look around! Your life is comfy because other people did a thing. Say your ‘gratitudes’ every day upon waking.

I’m constantly amazed at how wonderful the infrastructure is in Phoenix. Our road crews rock! Thank you @ADOT! How they keep everything so well paved in crushing summer heat is a mystery, and I’m very grateful they do!

Look around. There are hundreds of things that people do for you every single day. Be grateful for all the little things that work well and all the people who make it happen. (And yes, I’m talking to you #Kaepernick!)

Gratitude goes a long way to making your day better and it also makes the day of the person you thank along the way. #Respect #Perspective!

Our trip on this spinning ball only lasts about 70-80 revolutions around the sun if we are lucky. Take advantage of every special day. Learn from your mistakes. Keep your head up and be grateful. Life can be good if you learn from the past and keep moving forward.

Blessings,

Beth Terry

© 1998-2016 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved

Your Legacy: What will they say about you?

In 200 years we’ll all be gone… what’s in YOUR legacy?

©2008-2015 Beth Terry, EverybodysLost.com
What will our descendants think of our choices?

Right near the now-closed Greasewood Flats northeast of Phoenix is a place called Reata Pass. I took the photo above sometime in the early 2000’s, before the rich and famous co-opted it and turned it all into “Troon North.” In the early days of the southwest, it was the place to stop if you were a rider for the Pony Express. The Old West couldn’t have survived or thrived without these cowboys delivering the news from far off lands.

Much has been written about the romance of those Old West days. Today across the country the Cowboy Mounted Shooters and the Single Action Shooting teams gather to re-enact what was an everyday occurrence for the cowboys of old. The best place to catch this is in Arizona at Winter Range in February.

It’s fun to reminisce about “the old days.” But in doing so, think about this: what seems quaint and old-timey to us, was just an every day occurrence for them. Ask your teenager what they think about the 70’s or 80’s — to THEM your old photos and nostalgia about Betamax, 8-track tapes, Pong and stories of one phone in the house are quaint and old-timey. You were just living your life, much the way you are living it now. While we are in it, it doesn’t seem ‘historical’ or ‘quaint’ or ‘old-timey.’  With some hindsight, we review some of our choices, and more than a few Baby Boomers now mutter to themselves, “What the hell was I thinkin’?”

While we are living our life, it doesn’t seem ‘historical’ or ‘quaint’ or ‘old-timey.’

In 100 or so years, when there are no survivors left from today, what will historians piece together about our choices and our legacy? Will they wonder why we gave up our privacy so easily? Will they wonder why preserving our eco-systems wasn’t a primary concern for all of us? Will they marvel at our obsession with taking selfies? Will they thank us for the amazing innovations and the plethora of blogs on every topic from cooking to politics to relationships? Or will all our words crumble like so much dust inside King Tut’s Tomb?

Think about it. In less than 100 years, we’ve gone from a few lone traveling photographers making people stand still for minutes at a time, capturing stiff people on a daguerrotype … to everyone from age 5 to 95 taking pictures of themselves with a cell phone! Will that fad last? Will we finally get tired of photographing ourselves? Is that our legacy?

If not, what IS your legacy? What are you leaving behind? Will your life choices make sense in the lens of the year 2115? Does it matter what you are doing now? Is the world a better place because you were in it? What one thing can you leave your descendants to help them make sense of your life and theirs?

Food for thought on this beautiful Saturday in Phoenix.

Just because the world is crazy doesn’t mean YOU have to be!

Blessings,

Beth Terry

© 2015 Beth Terry • All Rights Reserved