Linda Bittle - West Plains, Missouri 65775

This is Not Where I Thought I Was Going

#4-Perspective is Key

Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life.

~Joni Eareckson Tada

Facebook is great for reminding me of how I viewed things in the past. My habit of almost daily postings of gratitude make it easy to check back on important days to see how I was feeling or what I was thinking.

Two years ago on this date I wrote the following:

  • Thankful today (August 17, 2016) for the perspective that time allows. It’s been a weird day. I spent a lot of it trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I had a vague notion that I was forgetting something important. I set off the smoke alarm at work, for crying out loud. In my defense, we have a four-slice toaster, and I needed 9 slices of toast, so the oven seemed like a good idea at the time.

Ah, the oven… For 25 years of my adult life, I baked my husband a German chocolate cake for his birthday. For the final 3 or 4, I even made the homemade frosting with coconut, pecans and condensed milk. It’s a pain, but it’s so much better than the canned version, and worth the extra work.

Wait, I only made 24 cakes because he left in late July. I already had the cake mix and everything for the frosting though. I sent it to his sister so she could make the birthday cake for him.

The perspective comes here. By leaving, he freed me from the life I thought I’d have.

I wouldn’t have gone to Washington to learn about nature and have all sorts of interesting adventures in the Anake Program and the Tracking Intensive at Wilderness Awareness School. I wouldn’t have learned to track wildlife or make herbal remedies. I’d have missed meeting some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and I wouldn’t be sitting in Idaho today thinking how lucky I am.

I am pleased to find that I can honestly say that I hope someone baked him a German chocolate cake today. And I’m not especially proud to say that I hope the frosting was canned.

Beautiful red and burgundy roses and buds against the green leaves. Treasures from my garden!
Do I see the rose or the thorns? Photo by Linda Bittle

Two years later, I’m still in Idaho. I still love it here.

The daycare closed a week ago, and everything is changing again. 

I just started a new job, and I’m optimistic that things will work out – again. Because things change. All the time. My perspective must keep changing, too.  I’m a work in progress.

I still hope the frosting was from a can.

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8 Comments

  1. Russell Lantz

    Great read as always!

    Reply
    1. Linda Bittle (Post author)

      Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Jan Cheverton

    Love your prospective. 😊

    Reply
    1. Linda Bittle (Post author)

      Thank you!

      Reply
  3. Judy

    I truly enjoy your blog. The sense of humor and adventure help me to know you can survive every adversity. God bless you and your faithful way of writing the way it truly is and the way it was.

    Reply
    1. Linda Bittle (Post author)

      Thank you!

      Reply
  4. jiselle jones

    my pastor did a message on this last week. how you see yourself and live your life is based solely on your perspective.
    lol u made me laugh though ! the canned version! we are all works in progress

    Reply
    1. Linda Bittle (Post author)

      Sometimes I don’t progress very fast! Thank you so much for reading and commenting!

      Reply

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