Renewal



My friend Peter Goral introduced me to the following quote when he commented on my LinkedIn post “Do-Over.”

"No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again"

For one reason or another, we may feel down, emotionally under siege or overwhelmed from our critical self-talk, but we can always stop and pivot and shift our perspective or mindset.

I’m not a fan of winter. I don’t like getting up in the morning when it’s cold and dark and dreary. Sometimes there’s snow on the ground that is just waiting to be shovelled. One morning I received a surprise. I was dragging the recycling bin to the curb when I slipped on a piece of ice on the road. I could feel myself falling. Although my hip hit the ground, I rolled over to break my fall. I burst out laughing. Not only did I escape from hurting myself, but I received a sense of delight from rolling around on the ground! In that moment in time, winter was not so humourless and dreary, and I had a reason to laugh at myself and looking silly! (I haven’t tried this lately, but maybe making snow angels on the ground will shift your perspective about winter as well!)  

I was reminded this week that snow shovelling could be considered a work-out and so maybe snow shovelling is not as dreary an activity as I think it is. Here is a CBC video “Shannon Martin on snow shovelling safety” to remind us about doing stretches prior to shovelling, shovelling sooner rather than later (as fresh snow weighs less) and stop shovelling if you’re experiencing pain.   

I’m one of those people who sends out Christmas cards and individual holiday greetings on LinkedIn. It’s a way to let people know that you’re thinking of them. I feel good when I send out cards or messages. If you are feeling down and want to shift your perspective, you may want to do something nice for other people thereby helping yourself in the process.          

This is the time of year when people make New Year’s resolutions. 

But when you think about it, we don't have to wait for a change in the calendar. We could give ourselves a fresh start (or feel a sense of renewal) every day with a shift in our perspective or mindset.

Originally Published on LinkedIn:  December 17, 2016
Image Credit:  Pixabay 



 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Launch

Image
I invite you to the launch of my new blog web site on the Blogger platform! I call my blog “The Positive Pathfinder.” You can find my blog here (URL = thepositivepathfinder.blogspot.com).  I wanted to expand my social media presence. I wanted to learn something new. And I wanted to set up a portfolio of my posts where I could direct potential employers to. After pondering 72 names over 2 days, I decided on calling my blog “The Positive Pathfinder.” First I’m a positive guy.  Also, I’m at a stage in life where I feel like I’m in flux. Don’t quite know what I’ll be doing, but I know I want to pursue some interests of mine, like setting up a blog web site (done) and taking an improv class (done and in progress). I am positive that I am not the only one who feels like they are in flux and so I am excited to continue to share my thoughts and experiences with you and to draw inspiration from your thoughts and experiences as well. We can learn and inspire each
Read more

Compound Interest (And Not the Financial Kind)

Image
I watched a movie on video yesterday called “Hello, My Name Is Doris” with Sally Field.  I would describe this movie as a dramedy where instead of boy meets girl and boy falls in love with girl, the movie turns things around where girl (Sally Field) meets boy (Max Greenfield) and girl falls in love with boy.  I liked this movie!  You can read a movie review from Variety  here .   One of the elements in the movie was Facebook where girl attempts to connect with boy on a personal level by going on Facebook and finding out about his interests.  The girl finds out that one of his interests is a particular electronica band.  By happenstance, the band would be playing at a local club, and she goes to the club in hopes of meeting the boy.  This reminds me about networking.  During face-to-face networking we try to find common ground.  We ask questions to find out what a person does, where they work or went to school.   We show interest in the other person by asking questions.  Mayb
Read more

Voice

Image
The other day a pensioner called at work. I happened to have picked up the phone.  He was very passionate, and I gathered that he wasn’t happy with the amount that he was receiving in old age pension. I asked if he called his MP’s constituency office. No, he hadn’t, because it wouldn’t help.    I sensed that this person didn’t feel that he had a voice when it came to his pension. Nowadays you hear headlines where robots are taking over jobs in the workplace. I think some employers would concur with the notion that employees should be seen rather than be heard. And like a robot they have no voice. For most of my working life, I went along with the notion that employees should be seen rather than be heard. In January 2013 I lost my job.     I found my job search to be a challenging time.  Out of resignation, really, I decided to write a LinkedIn post at a friend’s suggestion.   A light switch turned on when I wrote my very first po
Read more