Everything Makes Everything Else Easier, Except for Eve

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I'm a keen observer of perspective shifts. How a thing can be seen differently even while it essentially remains the same.

Getting better at something, rendering it less difficult than it was: My kids and I do this running-in-place one-mile race together at home (via DVD; the mileage, then, is not completely accurate). We noticed today how it's getting easier, though we still sweat and huff and puff quite a bit. We could, theoretically, get to the point where this activity that used to kill us--we'd skip parts, stall-- is no longer a significant challenge to our cardiovascular systems.

Experiencing something more difficult than the thing that was thought the worst: One consequence of sparring for the first time Thursday night was the feeling that I could rule the world. Another was that the other aspects of training that used to get my jitters up--5 rounds of shadowboxing under critical eyes, performing on the bags--now seem like nothing. After what I did, I can do anything. Bring it.

Living with bad makes less bad feel better. A guy in the former prisoners group I work with mentioned yesterday that he no longer has to carry around the box that tells the state where he is. He still has a big thing around his ankle, but golly he was happy to give up that box. The chunky ankle bracelet is now easy to bear.

Knowing what could be, rendering what was satisfactory less so. When Eve ate the apple, she was sampling from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we're told. I'm thinking this means she got a taste of the possible, and what she had--what looked real good when she knew nothing else--no longer appealed. Her eyes were opened, and this would not bode well for her nor her husband and the life they had.


Any examples of perspective shifts in your life? Good or bad?

Comments

  1. Holyoke HomeJuly 12, 2011 at 4:06 PM

    Mental shift about my body: I *might* not be a big girl. I've always thought I was a big girl. It might not be true. I *might* be a lean girl.

    Still learning, but the possibility is...enticing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amy PhillipsJuly 13, 2011 at 8:57 AM

    It is difficult to see ourselves. Especially to get a clear perspective on our bodies. Especially with all the photoshopping on magazine covers.

    ReplyDelete

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