Heart Hope by Olga

A light is blinding my eyes as a masked person draws near with a sharp object in hand. My knuckles are white from the clenched fists. Fear and trepidation flood my body…I am at the dentist office to have my teeth cleaned. Why am I so apprehensive about this visit?  I have a friend who actually looks forward with excitement at the prospect of going to the dentist. So why is my reaction so different from hers? Perhaps it is a matter of perspective. Maybe my friend likes going to the dentist because she looks at the long term benefit—clean, white, polished pearls to last a lifetime. I tend to look at the process of scraping, and whirring and poking which usually lasts for a moment instead of looking at the end product.  My reaction to life can be a lot like the visit to the dentist. If I am only looking at today, the situation might look bleak and frightening, but when I look at the long range viewpoint it can be analyzed in an entirely different way. When I see the challenges ...

“Every cloud has a silver lining.” Do you agree with that statement? I do.  Sitting in my living room this afternoon, if I look to the right it appears cold, dark, cloudy, even snowy off in the distance. However, if I turn to the left, I observe another image; there are blue skies, with fluffy white clouds on the horizon. How can things appear so distinctly different from my vantage point when glancing in opposite directions? I came to the conclusion that it is a matter of perspective. To the east, there probably is snow coming down on the mountains, but if I look closely, the clouds to the west are on the move, quickly gliding across the window panes, ushering in another weather pattern. It is my choice--do I want to focus on the storms or the blue skies?  In our lives we usually have both blue skies and storms brewing at the same time just as the view from my window.   Here also I have   a choice as to where my focus rests. I can decide to look at the ugly ...