I was in the car recently and as it does when I am on auto-pilot, my mind drifted off across a multitude of topics. I could have been well on my way to solving some of the world’s biggest problems when I became distracted with something far away in the distance.

As I continued driving, I became fixated on what appeared to be a row of huge giraffes. I stared for a few seconds at the giant metal structures tall into the sky with long metal legs before looking away. I looked back again and the ‘giraffes’ hadn’t moved. They just stood there, still in a row, many many kilometres away, just being giraffes.

I immediately smiled and wondered how many people would question once again if I had finally lost it when I created a blog post around my new found giraffe friends.

The first person that came to mind to share this ridiculous vision with of course was my son Ben. I excitedly told (thought) him to ‘check out’ my fantastic discovery. For those that know Ben, you would instantly recognise the look he would have given me. His head tilted slightly to one side, one eyebrow raised, looking directly at me with his big blue wise eyes, and a half smile on his face, “Really Mum…. Really?! Giraffes?!” Oh, the conversation that would have followed, I giggled to myself. I enjoyed my moment of fantasy and began thinking about how this might relate to real life.

Has anyone has ever tried to find something on the ground or on a carpet, such as a contact lense or a pin? You never really see all the other crumbs and stuff on the floor, your mind will only let you look for or focus on ‘seeing’ the lense. Or what about flicking through a Where’s Wally book? How many 100’s of other fascinating things do we miss on the pages, as our mind only allows us to look for or ‘see’ the funny little man in a red and white striped outfit.

I think a lot of what we ‘see’ in life is subject to our beliefs and individual interpretations, hence the glass being half full for some and half empty for others. Our beliefs are formed from information passed on by family as soon as we are born and then from friends and through our own personal experiences and opinions as we go through life. They are surely determined by how open-minded we are to alternative ideas and concepts.

For me this translates to having a certain amount of control as to how we choose to see the world. The challenge is how to use this deliberately to our advantage every day.

I was putting dishes away this week. I am one of those weird people that always store my cups/glasses standing upright. I figure I have more chance of chipping the ‘lip’ on them face down, than I am concerned about getting dust in them. So, you can imagine my surprise (read delight) when I opened the cupboard and there was one single glass upside down…

So what might someone else see? A single glass upside down.

What did I see? A ‘hey mum’ and a huge cheeky smile from a gorgeous boy in another dimension.

Seeing things in a positive or fun way is proven to make us feel good. Feeling good improves our overall physical and mental well-being and our attitude as we go about our daily lives.

We could easily convince ourselves that the goal or focus in life is one thing only, causing us to miss out on so many other fun, wonderful and alternative possibilities and opportunities.

So, what of my new-found friends? Well I still see the giraffes but suppose others could easily see a row of construction cranes. I know which one is more exciting 😊

Much Love

Dalya xx💙