Loving Monday: Threat or Promise?
Hurtling westbound on the Santa Monica Freeway my daughter and I had an unexpected view fill our horizon this morning. Storm clouds and a rainbow.
Living in sunny Southern California, rain storms are always half blessing half nuisance events that you usually can count on your fingers.
To look out over the ocean and see both storm clouds and a rainbow was an unusual treat.
Threat and promise at the same moment. Would the storm make its way inland and vent its pent up fury on us? Or was the rainbow a harbinger of what would become the sun’s ultimate triumph?
Perception is a powerful tool. Whether we see the threat or promise in any given circumstance depends largely on the eyes we have chosen to wear that day.
What sort of eyes did you put on this morning?
Monday is the perfect opportunity to be as intentional about what eyes we will look through as we are about what clothes we will wear.
Threat or promise? Danger or opportunity? Fear or hope? Not all circumstances, of course, fall so neatly at one end of the spectrum or the other. Most circumstances are ambiguous, or neutral, or a raw mix of complexities.
We run into trouble when we unthinkingly assume that we interpret correctly, when, in fact, we are merely looking through either rose-colored or gloom-shrouded glasses.
The danger runs both directions. We can be needlessly cautious, seeing danger around every corner, and, as a result, miss out on key opportunities. We can also be naively hopeful, and wait patiently for an opportunity that will never materialize, in spite of what we’ve been promised.
This Monday, take an intentional and conscious look at what glasses you’ve put on. Through what interpretive lens will you be experiencing the day? What adjustments might be wise to make? What other “glasses” can you try on?
On your side,
- Karl
