Shifting perspective

I should be sick of the weather and cold temperatures, but I am not. And here’s why.

Today I woke up and discovered friends were complaining about the rain and low June temperatures in social media. The local newspaper told me there’s still snow in the mountains in Southern Norway, and I find myself laughing, because to the people of Northern Norway this must seem like a joke. I still remember my shock when it was snowing 1 June in Tromsø a few years ago.

So having lived up north probably has made me more tolerant of bad weather. I haven’t really noticed that Bergen has had the most amount of rain in May since 1862. But the newspaper thinks I need to know this, so that’s how I became aware of how much rain there has been and that I should be sick of rain. I must admit I do long for warmer temperatures, but having a long term illness have taught me something precious: to guard my thoughts and weed my mind of negative thoughts.

Most importantly I had to learn to listen to my body and find out what gives me energy. So you learn to prioritise. You learn to spend your energy on the people, actions and thoughts that nourish you, rather than drain you.

One friend advised me to focus on what I want in my life, rather than what I don’t want. According to quantum physics your thoughts and words belong to a different dimension than your physical body, and this dimension is where your future is created. So if you think and talk a lot about how bad the weather is or about how much pain you are in, that’s what you’ll see more of tomorrow. This way of thinking is also called Biology of belief, and has done wonders for my recovery.

When you think about a negative state such as having a long term illness, and of all the things you cannot do such as not being able to be social, travel, talk, swim, write or walk,  thinking about what you can’t do and how awful you feel, does not exactly help or energise you. Then it is much more vital and important to think and feel what you’ll do when you recover.

Bad summer or fabulous summer. Your call.

I know I prefer to focus on sunshine, warm temperatures, sunglasses, sandals and swimming in the ocean in my mind, hoping that this will manifest in the real world. I’m hoping you will too. Let’s focus on what we want the world to look like, rather than what we don’t want.

And in the meantime, whilst we wait for sunshine, let’s accept reality as it is. That’s another thing the illness have taught me: if you cannot change or leave your current reality, ask yourself what you enjoy about where you are (If you can’t find anything, you may have to consider moving or changing something in your life).

If it weren’t for the rain, the sheep probably would not have gathered under the tree and I wouldn’t have taken this shot.

I’m happy and grateful for the crisp air and the rain today.

I choose fabulous summer.

What’s your choice?