It’s All About Perspective

Last night when I was doing laundry, I came across this ratty old t-shirt. It’s an undershirt, actually, and it belongs to my son. Well, it was originally my dad’s. One night when we were at my parent's house and the kids got a bath and didn’t have any PJ’s, my dad gave it to Alex to wear home. At the time, I’m absolutely certain that my dad didn’t realize what he was actually giving my son.

Now let me back up a minute and give you some background to this story. You see, my mom is amazing when it comes to laundry. And, much like her cooking, no matter how hard I try to copy what she does, I fail. My laundry never looks as good as hers (which could have something to do with the fact that it often lays on the table in the laundry room for days). And, as my children so often point out, it NEVER smells as good as grandma’s.

But back to the t-shirt. Since the day my dad gave Alex that shirt, he has worn it over and over and over again to sleep at night. When it was dirty he would return it to my mom to wash for him. He said it didn’t smell right when I washed it. Nowadays, since I started using the same fabric softener as my mom I can get away with washing it--sometimes

For a brief moment when I grabbed it off the pile to fold it, I considered retiring it to the rag bin. But something stopped me. Sure it's  torn, old and ratty looking. But it matters to my son. For him it isn’t just a t-shirt he wears to bed. It is something his grandpa gave to him. It reminds him of grandpa and it smells like him. In short, he has a whole different perspective on that t shirt than anyone else--including me.

If I’ve learned anything over the past couple of months, it’s that perspective matters--A WHOLE LOT. How you choose to look at things can make a huge difference in your attitude. But the tricky part is that it is a choice. One you have to make every day. Some days I’m better at seeing the glass half full--I walked 4.5 miles. Other days I fail miserably--I couldn’t run those 4.5 miles. Today I choose to see things in a positive light. How about you?