I spent that last four months living in Augusta, Georgia, working at Augusta National Golf Club. Many of you may recognize this as the home of the Masters Tournament. The Tournament is the calling card of the city; it's what brings in tens of thousands of people each year which essentially helps keep the city rolling.
Augusta is right on the border of South Carolina and Georgia, a land-locked town that isn't necessarily a magnet for 20-something young professionals. It isn't flanked by towering office buildings downtown, it isn't a stone's throw away from a sandy beach and it isn't near any mountain foothills ideal for hiking.
I've moved around a good deal the past two years, and it was completely different than what I had grown accustomed to, and what I had come to enjoy.
Does that mean I wouldn't enjoy it? Does that mean I couldn't be as happy there?
A few weeks in and I started to feel a sense of restlessness living there. I wondered if I would ever grow comfortable, and slowly began to look forward to my next adventure beyond the current one.
In my moment(s) of self-pity and negativity, a thought occurred to me: someone loves this place. And if someone can love this place, there must be lovable things about it.
I asked myself: how can I switch my perspective around so that I’m tuned in to those lovable things? Because I know they’re out there!
I knew I needed to first stop comparing the city to others. Comparison often brings as much frustration and discontent as it does clarity and direction.
So if I want to change my perspective on the city I need to change the way in which I function within that city. I need to change the way I consume and interact with it.
This might mean trying the farmers market downtown or switching up your night life. It might mean buying a bike and actually using it. Maybe it’s joining the employee softball team or visiting the art fair.
The point is, in order to be different you must do differently. If you want to change your perspective on something, you must change the way in which you interact with that thing.
If you don't change how you interact, it's just repetition - rinse and repeat - and nothing really changes.
Take this thought process and apply it to your own life wherever necessary. For me, it was my living situation. For you, it could be school, work, roommates, friends, relationships - whatever.
Simply because you do not find something or someone lovable, does not mean there is no love to be found. It means you are not looking at something through the same lens that others are. It means, based on your past and experiences, that you have a different perspective.
And that's okay.
This gives you the opportunity to add, not necessarily to change, to your own perspective, and to expand your own awareness.
You should always take those kinds of opportunities.
