Perspective

In Disney's movie Ratatouille a food critic named Ego requests some "....fresh perspective..." as his dining option when visiting a restaurant where (unbeknownst to him) the head chef happens to be a rat. The shocked waiter fumbles for an appropriate response to such an odd request. Finally, Ego says the chef should "hit me with his best shot." The scene's words, Ego's intonation and the image leave an imprint on the brain.

(WARNING: movie spoiler ahead) As it turns out, Ego receives exactly what he requested -- fresh perspective as the surprising little chef gives him the meal of his life. Upon recognition of the creator of such a divine meal, Ego is forever changed. Funny how something as simple as "perspective" can rock our world in such a profound way.

This happened to me yesterday admist the adminstrative stress of returning to my full time employment. This return is part of my "pushing off the river bank plan" on which I fully departed yesterday.

Not long after the innertube started moving, I got fussy....really fussy. I wasn't happy with the inner tube (my "job" or lack thereof), the direction it was taking (who the hell knows), nor the speed at which it was traveling (slower than my 4 year old trying to get dressed on a school day). It all pretty much sucked.

But in talking with one of my friends/advisors/gurus (she's all of these things), I started seeing my role, my direction and my speed of progress as just fine. In fact, I saw how they each were contributing in a significant way to one of my key stops down stream. That small shift in perspective helped me see the great value and have great appreciation for the tube, the direction and the speed.

Nearly all of these blog entires describe some slight shift in perspective and the power behind them. Author Stephen Covey calls it "changing your see" or "changing your paradigm." He notes in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that after his paradigm shifted on one occasion, "...I saw things differently, and because I saw differently, I thought differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently."

Where in your life are you being called to alter your perspective? What gifts and power might unfold for you by changing your perspective ever so slightly?

Assumptions

You've likely heard what happens when you assume -- it makes an "ass" out of "u" and an ass out of "me." I just had an assumption of mine revealed before my very eyes. And true to form, it made me look like an ass to none other than my own very self by keeping me stuck on the river bank rather than excitedly engaging in the flow.

So what happened? Well, I assumed my husband would not be supportive of me embarking on some learning opportunities -- opportunities that are expensive in both time and money. I kept wanting to discuss these with him, but the right timing never seemed to materialize.

Then yesterday, Roger asked me about a date in October and whether we had any plans. I realized that was the same weekend as one of the opportunities. Now is the time, Tracy...

I told him about my interest in the training and desire to go. No long after that, Roger inquired, "What's stopping you from signing up?"

Wow. I wasn't expecting that question from him. Door number two just appeared. I described to him my interest in the three separate and increasingly expensive opportunities. He suggested doing two of them this year and the third in the following year.

!!!!!!!!!! (that's my assumption being shattered)

I suddenly felt a woooooosh of movement as my inner tube left the river bank.

This situation revealed a lot to me. First, the power of the story in my mind. Life Coach extraordinaire Martha Beck talks in Finding Your Own North Star about the narrator in our minds. She notes that "we all walk around, day in and day out, telling ourselves the stories of our lives...The information we choose to include or excludes determines whether we see our lives as comedy, tragedy, romance or action-adventure." Clearly, my assumptions and the corresponding power of my own narrator kept me stuck on the river bank.

Second, I recognized just how deeply I wanted Roger's permission. I've been in such a financially dependent mode since I went on leave of absence. My return to work date is later this month and I'm recognizing yet another gift unfolding via my return.

While talking with my dear friend Sharon last night, she noted how important it is for us to live our lives and invite our husbands/partners/significant others to join us. Waiting for them to give us permission or agree to accompany us only keeps us all stuck. I do believe in partnership with a spouse, but I also believe in the criticality of living one's own path. Khalil Gibran wrote in The Prophet: on Marriage "...let there be space in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you...and stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, not in each other's shadow."

So what assumptions or stories are you playing in your head? How much are they holding you back? For me, I'm finally pushing off from the river bank. See ya downstream!

My Big Toe

I've made decent progress on my list of actions to push off the river bank. On some items, my body and inner tube said "adios!" to dry land and are ready for my Becky Thatcher-like adventure. But my big toe still is anchored into terra firma. It's longing for adventure, but isn't ready to just heave-ho with a giant shove.

Yesterday, I had a lovely and long overdue chat with my dear friend Laura. She spoke directly to my big toe (not literally, I mean we were on the phone and obviously my phone doesn't have ears). Her gentle, but inviting and supportive words told my toe directly just how incredible it is to engage in the current.

I accept that I'm not ready to give dry land a giant shove. But what if my big toe just let go....? THAT I can handle!

Pushing Off

These last two weeks of flowing downstream showed me that doing so is a beautiful, nearly effortless ride which can bring some amazing gifts into my life. The stream I've been floating feels connected to my book writing as well as care of my child with cancer. It all could be larger than that someday, but for now that is the obvious connection. It will continue to let this flow take me downstream.

Meanwhile, I've realized my RED inner tube for some big things in life is still sitting on the river bank. I need to give it a shove, hop on and then let the float trip begin. If the inner tube isn't yet in the water, it's kinda hard to go with the water's flow.

So, I've created a plan to push off from the river bank. Some of the items on the list scare me -- I don't know how rough the water is down any of those forks. No matter; it's not as if I really know what any given day might bring me, right? I recall going on an adventure with a group of former colleagues at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. Located on the banks of the Catawba River in Charlotte, N.C., the U.S. National Whitewater Center is the world's largest artificial whitewater river and an official U.S. Olympic Training Site. My fellow raft mates and I (along with our guide) chose the gentle route first. After a few exciting trips around this path, we realized we were soon going to be quite bored.

"Are you ready for the big one?" asked the guide.

We all looked at each other sheepishly. Then one by one, we agreed. "Yeah, we're ready."

OMG. Within minutes we were full-on in Class IV rapids (man made, but who cares when they're freaking Class IV???) dropping more vertical feet than I care to recall. We made it through safely and decided to go again. As it turned out, this was an incredible thrill. The key we quickly learned (as our guide coached) was to paddle like hell into the huge vertical drops. This kept the raft pointed downstream and moving in that same direction. The last thing we wanted to do was go over the rapids sideways or backwards. That's when boats were more likely to flip over and people could potentially get hurt.

Amazingly, none of us fell out of the boat nor was anyone hurt (not true of all rafts that day). Although I had a good time, I was happy to get off the river that day.

With that in mind, I'll push my own raft into the water (this one is bigger and redder than the last...and you better believe I have a guide on this trip too!!!). I'm ready to paddle like hell and keep my raft pointed downstream should any rapids appear.

Bon voyage!