The other morning, my 12-year-old daughter asked me one of those not-so-confounding questions:
“Mom, do you ever have those days when, even though things might not have been going so great lately — and it might get bad again soon — you just kind of look around yourself at that moment and say, ‘Wow, my life is pretty great right now?'”
“Yep,” I said, knowing I was being prompted to follow up. “Are you having one of those times right now?”
“Oh, yeah!” she said. “I mean, look at my breakfast!”
At the risk of running afoul of the nutrition police, I’m not going to say exactly what was on her plate, but I have to admit it was an awesome breakfast — from the perspective of a 12-year-old, anyway.
She did have other, perhaps more significant, reasons for feeling especially good that morning. After more than a week of suffering with a stuffy nose and horrible cough (not the flu, thank goodness), she was not rattling the entire house with her hacking this day. She was looking forward to her favorite Girl Scout field trip of the year. And she had a friend coming home from school with her that afternoon.
It was pretty close to a pre-teen paradise. After all, it’s all in your perspective.
Consider the winter storm we’ve experienced these last few days. If you’re a kid looking forward to a weekend to play in snow (not to mention a day with no school), it’s exciting and fun. To our first responders or the people driving the snowplows, it’s horribly busy work day with a dangerous commute. Perspective.
I’ve experienced some interesting shifts in perspective the last few months on Naperville issues. For example, my snarky comment that a city monument should be demolished earned me a sternly worded protest from one of its most ardent supporters. After we exchanged a few carefully worded emails offering each other the opportunity to be heard, however, we came to a respectful truce. And now I have an exciting invitation that is sure to offer me a very interesting new perspective on our city. (You’ll have to look for that this spring.)
And my perspective that Naperville made a mistake in landmarking the old Nichols Library building (years after selling it and months after the newest owner proposed a project on the site) was turned on its head recently when the developers successfully sought a “certificate of appropriateness” allowing them to demolish the building’s 1962 addition.
Depending on your perspective, this could be a sign that the developers want to tear down as much as they can get away with, or an indication that they’re serious about wanting to better visualize how they might use the property. I’m choosing to believe that this more creative look at the property could offer all of us new perspectives on the arguments we had last summer and fall.
I have always been a positive-outlook sort of person, after all, even though my years in journalism taught me the benefits of a healthy dose of cynicism as well. That might sound contradictory, but how it works is I try to anticipate the flaws in a plan when it’s first proposed, avoid those potholes as best I can, and then not worry about the rest, expecting it will turn out for the best.
That approach works for me most of the time, although the last few years have been a bit of a trial. I lost my job three years ago and have been working furiously ever since at freelance projects and temporary positions while searching for my next great full-time position.
My cynicism kept me hungry so I rarely turned down work and consequently I was always busy. The bad news was I couldn’t ever really relax and enjoy my evenings or weekends so my positive outlook suffered. And being turned down over and over (and over) for jobs tends to tamp down any innate optimism.
But then last fall, one of the people who had rejected me a couple years ago suddenly found herself in need. She remembered me, gave me a call, and a few hours later I accepted a “short-term temporary” position. It has lasted five months.
Now they’ve made their permanent hire, and it’s time for me to leave. But you’ve probably guessed where this is going. Yes, I’ve landed a permanent job, and when the offer came in it was the perfect opportunity at the perfect time and place for me. I’m dropping all the freelance and temporary jobs — except for this column — and now can just enjoy working at one thing that I believe I’m truly going to love.
More Top Picks Best Slant Boards For Handwriting
So even though I didn’t have the exact same breakfast as my daughter, from my perspective what was on my plate that day was absolutely perfect, too.
Susan Keaton lives in Naperville. You can reach her at [email protected].