seeing the forest for the trees

A few thoughts on perspective and realistic goal-setting.

Ah, jeez. Let me just stop there for a second to sigh and prepare myself to take another ride around the figure-eight track that is my mind.

I'm 25, barely out of college, still figuring out my career goals, and I am already so tired of shifting from one idea to the next regarding what I want to work towards and, essentially, do with my life.

I haven't talked to a lot of people or read many threads on Reddit concerning whether or not this is a common problem, so forgive me for again taking the time to visit this shell of a blog to write yet another arbitrary posting. Lots of people grow up changing their ideas on what they want to do with their lives, but I can't help but feel like the only idiot who's gotten themself completely incapacitated due to having pies for fingers (got my fingers in one too many pies and all that). But sure, maybe I'm putting too negative of a spin on my situation.

…

What I want to communicate here regarding perspective is essentially this: 

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 How are you looking at things?

Of course, we will always be using imperfect lenses when examining our present situations and our goals—the best we can do to combat that is try to get as much perspective as possible through the lenses of others. Ultimately, though, we will face points in our lives where we have choices to make and then it is necessary to ask ourselves, "How am I looking at this situation? How am I choosing to answer? How am I thinking and feeling about things?" Et cetera.

I have always loved the question, "Why?" It encapsulates so much of how we see and explore the world around us. It's almost magic; a bridge that appears with a thought and the smallest bit of effort, to carry the questioner from the unknown to the known. In the realm of philosophy, it's typically a bit less romantic and bit more painful, often ending in paradox, rather than the paradise of knowledge, but that's pararelevant.

Asking "Why?" might get you to the other side, but then what? The question doesn't explicitly force introspection. If you're stopping to ask yourself why you're doing things, why things are happening, etc., you're probably not really asking yourself. The question, posed in this way, a search for answers beyond oneself.

Craig Thompson, Blankets© (2003)

And that's fine, sometimes what we need is just a bit of catharsis. When that's out of your system, though, start seriously asking yourself how you're using the tools at your disposal, how you're approaching problems, how you're reacting to challenges, and whatever else you can put to question.

Next time you feel like you're stuck in Floop's dream, unclench your fists to let those pie-fingers loose and gaze upon the world with a less-obstructed view.