Perspective - Life's "not so little" Level.

I have always been a “lessons from life” kind of girl – and lately, this resonance has rung deafeningly. With the very near loss of my eldest brother late last year, the personal realisations which this brought for me as his little sister, spearheaded by my processing of his own experience of it all… running through my own brief “wake up call” in hospital a few months ago to the snowstorm that ultimately became my mother’s passing… I am acutely reminded of something we all too easily lose sight of… perspective. Life is a forever “ebb and flow” and yes we could adapt a million quotes to the point of how we adjust our sails, but life does not always afford the time for preparation and “winging it” is all we are left with - torn sails and all.

To me, life perspective has become about moments of contemplation to process and absorb the magnitude of what actually matters so I can find a way to move forward, ever moulding into a better version of myself. I suppose this “thought process” is not only applicable to me, but I do speak from only my perception of it all.

Recalling recent moments with my mom as she struggled with her dignity, I found myself thrown into a nursing situation that I was completely unprepared, yet oddly grateful for. I know this did not change my mom’s experience of it all, but it most definitely did open my eyes. No, it was not pretty, but I was filled with gratitude that I, her daughter could even offer her a FRACTION of what she gave me in my life time. The memories of those last few weeks almost haunt me, because I constantly question what I could have done better… but in my heart, I know I did absolutely everything I could. So what am I left with?

Perspective - That’s what.

In a thousand slippery moments of desperate love and care, I learned that all we EVER have is the present moment, the good times we so often take for granted… and even if we don’t take them for granted… when they run out, we realise we could have made opportunity for more of them! I learned what it REALLY means to be a mother and a child simultaneously. I learned just how big a mothers heart is… and that I should strive to make mine even a fraction as large as the mother I was blessed with. I learned that literally NONE of the shit we consider important… is.

Perspective!

Situations like these also remove the cloaks and hoods from those that “say and have said” that you, your heart and/or mind mean anything to them. People are well trained at pleasantries, especially in the eyes of others, and whether they have your number or not, most would never bother with the level of sincerity it takes to actually put a smile upon your face or ease your hurt… because guess what – they don’t ACTUALLY care. Another realisation I have encountered… those you often trust implicitly with friendship… vapourise without a trace… and interestingly enough, from the most unlikely corners of your horizon… the people who TRULY care show themselves.

Life gives us all a ticket on it’s carousel, but it is up to us as individuals to determine the minor from major when listening to the tune that ticks our time away as we enjoy and hopefully learn from the ride.

Perspective.

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”― Carl Sagan

Every moment, opportunity, challenge, trauma and hardship we are faced with in life are the grains of sand which we scoop and hold within our palms… what we choose to do with those magnificently miniscule particles is entirely up to us. Toss them aside or embrace their beauty and build something great from their contributing facets… it is all up to us as individuals.

Perspective.

“It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,” ― Amit Ray

Nothing in life is perfect, yet in the same breath – EVERYTHING IS! It simply depends how you choose to see it and how you act upon what is dealt your way. Life is a great teacher – for those willing to open themselves to it’s lessons. This means embracing weakness, failure, loss, challenge and sand in your eyes… but the longer I am here and the more I am exposed to such hardships and salt confetti… the more I see the bigger picture and the more I realise that I need to be here doing what I am supposed to – to the best of my ability, and this journey is always unique.

Perspective.