I have had this poster plastered to the side of my filing cabinet in my home office for a very long time:

It was given to me by a teacher in high school, in the midst of my grade 12 year, when the pressure of University-entrance GPAs was at an all-time high.  I think that teacher could see then what I couldn’t; that everything comes down to one step at a time.  I’ve never been great at seeing the forest for the trees, and my emotions overwhelm me regularly.  When I was a teen, I was still figuring out how to deal with this part of myself.  As an adult, I’ve tried to embrace the passion in my personality and harness my energy effectively.  I now call it ambition (if you talk to my husband, he may chose a different word to label  this trait of mine).

I’m currently in the midst of a stressful time in life; we’re moving to a different neighborhood and there’s all of the logistics and ups-and-downs that comes with that transition.  As I was doing some paperwork last night, I glanced to this poster and the phrase that stood out was “look at challenges differently.”  I see a different phrase every time I look, but “look at challenges differently” seemed perfectly timed for my current situation.  Good advice, great coincidence, perfect reassurance.

This poster has been hung on my University dorm room wall, shipped to Toronto in my move-across-the-country trunk, tacked above my desk as I prepped for my chiropractic licensing exams, and now taped to my filing cabinet and moved to three different houses.  It’s approaching 20 years old, is dog-eared and sun-faded, and it’s one of my most prized possessions.

It reminds me of where I’ve been.  It gives me clarity of where I’m at.  It gives me hope for where I’m going.

My favorite part is the last line: “you have the rest of your life to live.”