Celebrate What’s Right With the World

Getting a different perspective

It seems easy on a bright sunny afternoon in May to feel positive and optimistic about life. Looking at a blue sky, flowers in the garden and people looking more relaxed can make even a difficult day seem less problematic.

But, of course, not every day comes so sweetly arranged. Sometimes we fall into a habit of noticing the stuff that’s not going so well – the workload that’s never-ending, the nasty email or the complaining negative colleague/boss. On those days the negatives seem to outweigh anything good.

This weekend, on a great training course for coaches, I watched a film called Celebrate What’s Right With the World – and ever since (a whole 2 days!) I’ve had this as my motto. So this morning when I walked my dog Sacha (aged 15 and a half years – the half is important) and he meandered rather than skipped, and stopped to sniff the daisies for a long time….I reminded myself not to be impatient but to celebrate what’s right with the world when you walk an old dog. Firstly, you get more time in the park ….more time to think about how important Sacha has been to me and my family all these years. Secondly, you get to talk to lovely people who show an interest in an old struggling dog. And mostly you have a chance to realise what’s important in life.

All very philosophical – and how does this ‘celebrate what’s right’ fit with real life work challenges? Well, as Dewitt Jones (maker of the film and my current hero) says – there’s always more than one perspective. So when the workload is never ending, we need to alter our frame of mind, create options and do what we can do with grace and enthusiasm. When the nasty email disturbs our day – take time, look at it from another point of view and be solution-focused rather than act out of annoyance. And when the boss or a colleague is negative and complaining, maybe we can take a leaf out of Dewitt’s book and encourage them to create a different picture.

Talking of pictures … the film and website are full of beauties and that in itself helps you celebrate what’s right with the world