Winning Glasses

Written with love & appreciation for my friend and mentor, Emily.

Every morning, each of us wakes up with a day of opportunities awaiting us. The choices are many. While some responsibilities are unavoidable and beyond our control, there is one universal truth that I believe is the key to happiness: our ability to choose how we perceive the day.

A couple of months ago, one of my business advisers, Emily Aarons, asked me what my life would look like if I replaced my regular glasses with ‘winning glasses’. I didn’t understand the question – winning glasses??? When I asked what she meant, I quickly realized that she wasn’t going to give the answer to me. This was something I needed to work through so that I could truly understand the concept.

winning glasses

[win-ing /ˈɡlɑːsɪz/] noun

  1. Imaginary eyewear that is available for anyone looking for a new way of experiencing life
  2. Glasses that bring positive things into focus
  3. Glasses that provide a new, optimistic perspective

Winning glasses shift our focus from seeing the negative to embracing the positive. Winning glasses operate from a place of hope and joy as opposed to fear, anxiety, stress, anger or disappointment. Most importantly, winning glasses represent our power to actively embrace an optimistic mindset.

While I try to be eternally positive, I still have a tiny yet powerful part of me that is ruled by doubt and fear. I used to think it would be great if I could just remove this part of me and dispose it like an empty bottle of shampoo. Instead of changing my mindset, however, all this thought process was doing was putting more energy toward the exact trait I was trying to change. I was working around it through my writing, but I needed to go deeper and find a way to work ‘on‘ the doubt and fear instead of ‘around‘ it.

Enter winning glasses and our ability to choose a positive outlook.

The good news is that winning glasses come with instructions. Please read them thoroughly, and re-read as necessary.

  1. Recognize when your thought process and outlook on life is ruled by negativity, worry, fear or disappointment.
  2. Do not judge yourself or criticize yourself for falling into this way of thinking.
  3. Close your eyes.
  4. Imagine a pair of amazing glasses that have lenses that highlight all that is positive and good.
  5. Take those glasses, put them on, and notice how light and comfortable they feel.
  6. Take a deep breath in, then slowly exhale to release the negative and make space for new energy
  7. Open your eyes and your heart, and welcome the opportunity for a new way of living.
  8. Take time to notice the subtle differences in perception and how these shifts make you feel.
  9. Take a moment to be washed with gratitude.
  10. Repeat as often as necessary

I treasure my winning glasses and knowing that they are always within my reach. I continue to lose track of them and slip back into old ways, and I believe this is part of the lesson of winning glasses. The power is within each of us to recognize when we have misplaced them, to find them, and to choose to put them back on.

I choose happiness.
I choose positivity.
I choose humor.
I choose patience.
I choose growth.

 

 

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Owner, Baker,
& Storyteller

You know that friend who has it all together? Yeah. That’s not me. What I can offer you instead are my experiences, insights, and passions. Pithy observations about making cookies. Wry commentary on running a business. Loving (if slightly sarcastic) parenting advice. And if that doesn’t interest you, I have dogs. Cute ones.

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