Where you Dwell
I've caught myself complaining about a certain situation to three different people in the past two weeks. With each conversation I found myself getting more and more upset about the situation. What started off as something that merely bothered me turned in to something that I'm really quite upset about or more appropriately, disappointed about.
Finally, as I moved through my day today, my thoughts rested on the idea of where I am dwelling.
Dwell is defined as "to keep the attention directed on" or "to live as a resident". These two different definitions end up tying together in my case.
I have been dwelling (keeping my attention directed) on a my expectations not quite being met and as a result I have been dwelling (taking up residence) in this attitude of discontent. It is one thing to be bothered by something, to be sad when hopes are dashed, to allow your attention to focus on something for a bit, but it really becomes something altogether different when you hang out there long enough that dust bunnies start to gather and you order artwork to hang on your walls of whining.
What do you do when you find yourself living in a place you don't want to be? I see two options. Move on or move the furniture.
Now, just to be clear this is a figurative discussion and I like my house, my neighborhood, the great State of Washington and I'm satisfied with the current placement of my furniture. However, there have been homes that I lived in that I didn't like so much. Perfect example is the ity bity, one bathroom apartment in Germany. It was small, it was ugly and we had one toilet. We couldn't move on, so we moved the furniture around until it made the most sense, we painted the walls, bought organizational stuff to make life easier and eventually we highjacked the basement toilet and shower to give us options for emergent situations.
In life, sometimes you are simply tied to a situation that doesn't afford you the opportunity to get out. That means it is time to paint the walls, move the furniture...make the best of it, turn things around.
After some literal house-cleaning, which gave me a lot of time to think, I was able to brain storm some ideas to get to my end goal through other avenues that don't require the cooperation of uninterested parties, and in the end turn the situation around and make the best of things not working out the way I wanted them to.
Rather than taking up residence in a dark place that only brings on the dreary, we can choose to dwell somewhere else, where there is light and hope.
Finally, as I moved through my day today, my thoughts rested on the idea of where I am dwelling.
Dwell is defined as "to keep the attention directed on" or "to live as a resident". These two different definitions end up tying together in my case.
I have been dwelling (keeping my attention directed) on a my expectations not quite being met and as a result I have been dwelling (taking up residence) in this attitude of discontent. It is one thing to be bothered by something, to be sad when hopes are dashed, to allow your attention to focus on something for a bit, but it really becomes something altogether different when you hang out there long enough that dust bunnies start to gather and you order artwork to hang on your walls of whining.
What do you do when you find yourself living in a place you don't want to be? I see two options. Move on or move the furniture.
Now, just to be clear this is a figurative discussion and I like my house, my neighborhood, the great State of Washington and I'm satisfied with the current placement of my furniture. However, there have been homes that I lived in that I didn't like so much. Perfect example is the ity bity, one bathroom apartment in Germany. It was small, it was ugly and we had one toilet. We couldn't move on, so we moved the furniture around until it made the most sense, we painted the walls, bought organizational stuff to make life easier and eventually we highjacked the basement toilet and shower to give us options for emergent situations.
In life, sometimes you are simply tied to a situation that doesn't afford you the opportunity to get out. That means it is time to paint the walls, move the furniture...make the best of it, turn things around.
After some literal house-cleaning, which gave me a lot of time to think, I was able to brain storm some ideas to get to my end goal through other avenues that don't require the cooperation of uninterested parties, and in the end turn the situation around and make the best of things not working out the way I wanted them to.
Rather than taking up residence in a dark place that only brings on the dreary, we can choose to dwell somewhere else, where there is light and hope.
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