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The green house on the corner bringing perspective.

Perspective. Good to have sometimes, especially when life is hard work. Not because my life is horrible in any definition of the word, but just because I still feel like I am walking on that bridge between two places and seasons, and am not settled into this new yet.

Perspective. As I was walking this morning I passed a green house situated on the corner of two intersecting roads. It caught my attention because it looked a little bit like how I feel at the moment. One side was nicely painted (probably a recent paint job) while the other side was flaking off and looked worn. It was an interesting sight. And it made me stop and ponder. I realised that in some ways I have it all together; I have the basics to live and seem capable of facing life head-on. Yet in other ways I feel so flaky and uncertain. Unsure of how to do life in Norway. Unsure of how things function and how I am meant to be now I’m back in my own culture which has become so foreign, yet at the same time is so familiar.

Perspective. On Thursday work was quiet. I was the only one in the office, and although I was communicating, it was more the written kind then the spoken kind. After getting off the train I decided to go pick up the Jojo Moyes book I had reserved at the library (side note: I love libraries here in Norway. They are free and the system is so simple). As I left the library I realised that the conversation I’d had with the librarian to find out how to get my book was the first one I’d had all day with another human being. It really struck me. Both because it made me ponder my day in a new way, but mostly because I realised that where that is an exception for me, it might be the reality of some peoples’ lives. That where I can feel a bit alone and lonely at times, other people might only occasionally feel accepted and like they belong.

Perspective. Sometimes I seem to think that to get perspective I need to remove myself from the situation and try to see it from a different angle. But I think it’s possible to have perspective even when I’m in the midst of walking something out which consumes my vision. And that is what I desire to have. At the moment life seems to have one challenge after the other pop up (not huge crises, but just small things which together become mountains I need to conquer). I don’t have to let the challenges become the lens through which I view my journey. I can choose to face the challenges, but see the greater picture. And instead of being overwhelmed by the mountain, I can choose to climb it and make it a stepping stone to seeing an even greater view of what lies beyond. It’s easier said than done. Sometimes tears of frustration and a feeling of defeat precedes the climbing, but whether the journey is one of getting straight to the top or one of taking a longer route, the road always leads me to overcome the obstacles.

And that gives me courage to keep walking, even when I feel mostly like the worn green wall with flaky paint.

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