I used to commute about 45 miles to work. Every day I would drive on the hi-way and interstate to and from work. When one drives this much a lot of thoughts go thru your head and I used to get annoyed at stop lights. I’d have to stop, waste time and they were always increasing in numbers. They slowed me down for an ETERNITY and there were new stoplights at intersections that didn’t previously have them, which were more chances of having to slow down. How much of my life was I spending at red lights?!? I made a game out of trying to not get stopped at lights. Time them right, take a little different route, etc. I was actively seeking out the red lights, so that I could avoid them.
Who controls our happiness?
One day Cassie had suggested that I try it a different way. I agreed and decided that I would look for how many green lights I went thru. Same drive, same route only a different perspective. It was amazing how many green lights I found. My perspective changed and it was kind of amazing how the frequency of red stoplights changed as well as well as how long they appeared to last. I found so many green lights, and it made me happy to see them. Instead of seeking out frustrating things that would ultimately annoy me when I got to them, I sought out something that kept my cruise going and saved me time. Every green light was a win. Even our language filters our perspective. So instead of stop lights, they were now “go lights”.
This changed my commute. It was amazing how many green lights I saw and how few red lights stopped me, or rather, that I stopped for. When I did get stopped at a red light, it became a lot less frustrating because the ratio of green to red made it seem ok. 6 green lights to 1 red light….Not so bad, especially compared to the “OMG stupid red light slowing me down!!!” thought process I had been using.
I had listened to an NPR series of broadcasts on one of those commutes back in Colorado. The stories titled “Puerto Rico: A Disenchanted Island” focused on high crime, corruption, murder, high unemployment, politics and people moving to other states to “escape their island woes”. When I listened to this I didn’t identify with it. It didn’t seem like the PR that we had visited so many times.
I didn’t really think much about it until just the other day. We had visited our friends in Maricao and I had mentioned that I don’t know how “Puerto Ricans can afford these nice cars and continually shop at the malls, where in the US the malls are vacant and dead”. They’re jobless after all right? And things here are so dire! It was brought up that the stats the US uses on the economy simply aren’t accurate. There is a lot of economic activity that doesn’t show up on the stats the US government uses. There is a large informal economy here.
When I listened to the NPR broadcast I didn’t even really think much about it at the time, but the perspective used was first of all, from the perspective of the news. The news is simply there to create a listening audience and they do this by reporting information people tune into. Turn on any news broadcast at any time and you will see proof of this. “If it bleeds it leads”. The reporting also comes from the perspective of the US. Having lived in the mainland for so long there are a few simple ideas that are always taken for granted. Money is success, jobs are good and not working for the man either means you’re lazy and worthless or that the economy controls your fate (or if you do it long enough you’re put out to pasture/retired).
I suppose I choose to see things differently, not that any of those things are true or false, good or bad. As an example I lived in a city with high poverty rates and the gangs, drugs and shootings were often reported in the local newspaper. I however, didn’t personally encounter any problems with it…ever. When I stopped focusing on the news, my city became a more pleasant place to live. Beautiful parks, lots of places to eat and good friends to see movies with.
I guess this is basically another way of asking the age old glass half full/empty question.
It depends on your perspective
The point is that there are red stoplights. I don’t have to focus on them and I don’t have to abide by the general idea that they are good or bad. I can choose which glasses to wear. For example I could see the red lights as a life saving measure for society instead of an inconvenience to ME and MY daily commute; it is a choice. Dirty dishes in the sink are either a continuous chore that never ceases, or a sign of having food to eat. Sometimes it is hard to try on different perspectives: almost as difficult it seems as learning a foreign language. But it is possible and the world opens up and becomes a whole new place full of more possibilities.
Yesterday we were burning piles of dried trees and vines that we had cut down a few weeks ago. We stopped a few times throughout the day for beer breaks and lunch then got back to it. We watched the hawks floating in the air like kites. At dinner time we were both pretty wiped out so we took showers and I took a shovel down to the smoldering pile and got a few scoops of hot coals so I could cook chicken for dinner. The air was incredibly perfect at 80 degrees and I am in only shorts and flip flops, the property is looking better than ever and we have lots of fruit trees planted.
Is it the life we have built and decided to live or we are unemployed and the conditions are dire? Do we have a crazy untamed property or just enough work to keep us motivated? Do we live in the sweltering humid tropics or are we not freezing our butts off in a temperate desert? It all depends on which glasses you want to put on.
Even this post will be construed differently by everyone who reads it because we all have different perspectives, different life experiences, different opinions. And that’s what makes reality ever harder to REALLY pin down. It’s different for everyone.
But doesn’t it seem just a little fitting that there are no stoplights at all in Rincón? 🙂
I hope that you realize that you’re becoming the stereotypical guru on top of the mountain. And I mean this as a compliment. Your insight is refreshing.
You & Cassie are happy that’s all that matters, which glass you drink out of is up to you.
Please consider your neighbors next time you decide to burn. 30% of the children her have Asthma. It not fair to make your neighbors have to shut all the windows in their house. We can’t stand it when people burn around us. It’s the dry season now so people burn everything, wood, garbage, plastic, ect.
http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/one-of-highest-prevalence-rates-for-asthma-in-the-world-is-in-puerto-r/3808/
I don’t have asthma but the smoke bothers me. Just imagine someone downwind of you with a breathing problem. 30% of the kids here!!!!
You have so much land, just compost the wood pile. It will be gone in less than a year and you will have better soil.
Good point, I wouldn’t want someone burning stuff anywhere near my house.
Not sure you know that there are laws in Rincon against open burning. My neighbor was caught and I can’t remember the exact amount of the fine, but it was a nice sum.
This was one of my favorite posts and it came at a time that was really needed. I have been “planning” a move to PR for some time. I have made up my mind visiting for some time. I just haven’t found a job or viable source of income yet. My current job, which I telecommute for, does not want its employees to do so from PR. I have had so many ppl try to dis-sway me from my dream, but I have to be there. With the news of what just happened in Carolina, PR, I got a huge influx of messages using that particular instance as a reason to not move. But this puts things back into perspective for me. Thanks for the positivity.
LIVING in the moment has it’s ups and downs, but sure beats living for the paycheck, report card or whatever other extrinsic rewards we sometimes choose to wrap our lives around.
Something about the tropics that has made many a man (and woman) into an artist and poet. You have joined the club, Britton!
I love the smell of a wood fire, and I think your neighbors are far away. stay POSITIVE! 😉
I love it when the light is red and green at the same time. Burning weed is legal in Colorado.
Hi Everyone! Thanks for the comments.
Jeff, I was considerate of those around me. The fire wasn’t big and it wasn’t out of control. In contrast the property below us does a controlled burn /hazard reduction burn from one side to the other every year. I am waiting for that to occur in the next few weeks seeing how it is pica season!
Good point Wil about the laws. I will need to build a fireplace/pit/bbq because I do plan to cook again using the properties resources. In most cases the laws allow for preparation of food, or religious ceremony. I did dance around our fire while chanting but I think building a structure will clear up any confusion under the eyes of the law!
Mr Coconuts, very true on both.
I am sure all the churches feel the same way when they blast their gospel. But heck, your right. This is Puerto Rico. You can do anything you want and no one will say anything. The 30% with breathing problems can’t speak then so they can’t say anything either. Don’t kid yourself that no one else can smell your smoke. We live a long ways (>1/4 mile) from the people burning and it still chokes us out.
Hmmm. Just as predicted, everyone sees a little something different in this post.
To me, among other things, I see that perspective is relative to the viewer. What we choose to focus on says a lot more about the viewer than what is “really” going on. Some people (like Britton) have (or had) hangups on stop lights. This inanimate object carried so much of his happiness. Other people may buy hook, line and sinker the emotions that the news tells us we should feel about things. And some people may not be able to see a small fire as anything other than “evil”. But usually there are many, many different sides to a story, and I choose to give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time and see the positive more often than the negative (the green light instead of the red). It doesn’t hurt anything and makes me happier. But then again, some people thrive on misery.
Fu(k (o(onuts .. right on! hahaha
lets see.. breathing or itching… if you have pica pica you BURN baby BURN. It’s nasty.
Actually we are a bit more crowded in our barrio so we just hack the pica pica down, but I understand the burning.
Still love a wood fire and we burn one 24/7 at our house in the Adirondacks. As for cooking, I would build a big BBQ pit Britton, you can roast a pig on the weekends.
Turkeys, we will be roasting turkeys and chickens. Not sure I want a pig…yet.
Excellent analogy with life perspectives and the stoplights.
It is far too easy to complain and look at the negative sides of life when the good things are often there just for the taking. Too many human beings are trapped in the circumstances of life and place. Too many human beings are trapped in the misery of war and hate that our political systems foster upon us. Some of us, however are presented with the opportunity to break from the mould. Both of you have done so with admirable perserverance. And to those who wish a Puerto Rican life, come down and join all of us. PR is a great place; it has the “bones” from whuch one can make a quality life!