Some see a weed...

others see a wish.

I am the type of person who can’t walk past a penny without picking it up for good luck. I once was crossing the streets in Manhattan as a young, broke college student and actually found a one hundred dollar bill. Can you believe that? I thought I had hit the jackpot! I was so excited I couldn’t believe it.

I am somewhat sad that we all use Apple Pay or credit cards to purchase things for the most part. I worry that someday all of our paper bills and coins may go away, and my boys will never experience the magic of finding a random dollar bill in a pair of jeans and it making their day so much better, or throwing a penny into a water fountain and making a wish.

I don’t think it’s superstition as much as it is wishful thinking. And why not have wishful thinking? Why not wish upon a star, or turn a penny heads up, then pick it up and read the year on it and let it fill you with an insight or an idea of what you want to bring into your life?

The other week I was hiking with my dad and my son William, and we kept stopping every few feet because he wanted to blow the dandelions. Some of them were enormous, these huge white globes, and watching him made me stop and blow one too. I hadn’t done that in years. That’s actually what got me thinking about this whole idea of wishes instead of weeds.

I heard an incredible meditation once where my teacher talked about seeing a field of white, fluffy dandelions. Did you know that is what they become after they are yellow? I didn’t realize it really until recently. He said you could look at the field and see a thousand weeds, or you could look at the field and see a thousand wishes. The field hasn’t changed, the dandelions haven’t changed; the only thing that changed was the way you chose to see them.

Our minds are constantly looking for evidence to support what we believe. If we are always looking for what is wrong, what is missing, or what might go badly, we are much more likely to notice those things. But when we practice looking for beauty, possibility, and moments of gratitude, we start to see those things more often too.

I love this quote by Anaïs Nin: “We see things not as they are but as we are.” Someone could look at the same painting and see two totally different things. It’s like those fun drawings you’ll see where one person sees a dog and another person sees a dinosaur. The image is the same, but the experience is completely different.

Children are naturally so good at this. I see a cardboard box, my boys see a spaceship. To them it’s not a stick, it’s a sword. A puddle becomes an opportunity to jump like Peppa Pig and get their shoes and socks all wet, much to my chagrin. Somewhere along the way, many of us trade some of that wonder for efficiency. We stop looking for the magic in the ordinary, we walk right past the pennies.

Growing older isn’t about losing our sense of wonder, it’s about choosing to find it again. As my boys head back to school and we return to schedules, routines, and packed calendars, I am reminded how easy it is to focus on everything that needs to get done. All of the emails and the errands. So many responsibilities, and it’s easy to beat myself up for things that didn’t go as planned. That is when I get stuck in the weeds, and when I practice shifting my perspective, I think about how lucky I am and look up and notice all that is around me.

I appreciate the smile from a stranger, the fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning, the song that takes me back to a special memory, the beautiful sunset I almost missed because I was buried in my phone. I cherish my cat brushing by my leg first thing in the morning and seeing the smiles on my boys’ faces as they compete in a game of Monopoly. We all have the freedom to choose our perspective, and let me tell you, so much of life is perspective.

Seeing wishes instead of weeds is what I want to focus on this week and as often as I possibly can. I want to dance in the rain instead of hiding under the awning, and jump in puddles instead of stepping around the water. I want to get my hair wet and dive in the pool even if that means I have to wash it again. I want to look up at the sky and wish upon a star. I want to look at the field and see thousands of wishes.

The weeds will always be there. But so will the wishes.

This week’s mantra: I choose to see wishes.

A little perspective shift: What’s one “weed” in your life right now that you could choose to see as a “wish”? Share it in the comments. I’d love to hear what you’re choosing to see differently this week.

And if you need a reminder, come back to this week’s mantra: I choose to see wishes.