A Change of Scenery

Perspective.  It can be the best medicine.  It's an amazing thing: it is free of charge, and can work instantaneously.  It's like the saying my mother used to tell me as a kid, "I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."  One minute, life is terrible.  Until fresh perspective comes along and saves the day.

"Things could always be worse."  And that's usually true, as bad as things may be at the moment.  Did you get a flat tire on the way to work?  Be happy it wasn't in the middle of the desert at 3am.  It goes hand in hand with "look on the bright side."  While it may be difficult to find even so much as a thread of silver lining in the bad times, it's usually there - burried beneath a few layers of muck. 

In the movie Ratatouille, film critic Anton Ego suggests that the young restaurateur - Linguini - offer to serve him up some "fresh perspective."  Something that might change his mind about the restaurant and the way he perceived it.  Linguini did just that, and served Ego a plate of Ratatouille - a dish that brought Ego back to memories of his childhood.  He insisted on meeting the chef - a rat, of course - and after hearing the incredible story, Ego's entire attitude and understanding changed.  Indeed, he was served some "fresh perspective" and saw the restaurant in a whole new light.

What gets us through each day is an ability to look at other sides of the dice that are rolled. Rolling threes may not be as good as a pair of sixes, but at least it's not snake eyes.