“Take a Better Picture” in the Year to Come

I love the attitude of Oliviero Toscani, known to many as the creative director of Benetton, in this quote from Volkskrant Magazine (6 May 2006):

“Globalism is a blessing. Proclaiming that McDonalds is bad and should be banned is like saying you’re against photography because you’ve seem an ugly picture somewhere. You know what you should do?Take a better picture. That is revolution — not screaming on the street.”

If you take a look around your own world, where do you give your attention?
Do you look at what you don’t like?

Or do you focus and give attention to what you do like?

How do you spend your energy?

Do you expend all your energy in anger and outrage?

Or do you work to create something better to replace what’s not working?

My challenge to you for the new year is to do an inventory of your world, defined in whatever way that is meaningful to you.

1. First, take some time to appreciate the good in your world. Let yourself drop down into your heart and soak in the pleasant feelings of gratitude, appreciation, and joy you find in the good around you.

2. Then, envision how the less-good bits could change and morph into something different and better. Don’t revert to getting angry and frustrated about what you want to change — let yourself engage in experiencing what could be.

3. Then make some plans to help the change happen in at least one area.

For more on the usefulness of imagining what could be, you may enjoy listening to this podcast on Best Possible Self by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky and Caroline Miller.

Please share what you are grateful for in your world – and your plan for change, if you like. I’d be delighted to hear what you have to share and it would give more positive things for me to be grateful for too!

Best wishes for a most wonderful new year.