It's All In Perspective

If you're anything like me, you might have noticed how as you got older, your Pastor got better. Hmmm... how bout that. Did you ever think maybe it's not that he got better (although, he might have done just that)  but that as you matured in your own Christian walk, you were simply becoming more and more receptive to the message? My wise Momma enlightened me about that sneaky little truth finally when Sunday after Sunday I remarked on how much better my Pastor (who's been the faithful Pastor of my church since before I was born) has gotten in the last few years. Funny how perspective can change as you get older.

Well, today I realized another way that changing perspectives is currently influencing my life. I have been a summer intern at AAA Carolinas for what will make 5 years this summer. I have been in several departments- from gathering tourbooks and maps for domestic vacations in Auto Travel, to helping design Disney webpages on AAA's website and looking up cruises to put in GoMagazine in Travel Marketing, to working with both external partners to get discounts for AAA members as well as helping with more in-house projects to better the company itself such as intranet design in the Marketing department, where I am currently working.

To say the least, the last 5 summers have been a bit of a roller coaster for me. It's hard working your summer away behind a desk when all your friends are tubing on the lake or laying out on the beach or even just sleeping later than 6:30am (something that's a real luxury to me now). The summer before my freshman year in college was hellacious... I didn't even know what I wanted to major in, so why did I have to get a 9-5 desk job when all my friends were out having fun?

Funny how your perspective can change as you get older.

I am so glad I stuck it out all those times I felt like quitting. All those times that I felt like what I was doing was pointless were simply preparing me for bigger and better things. Now that I am completely into my major and have a greater understanding of the resources I use in my internship, I get so much more out of it and enjoy it more than I ever thought possible at the beginning of this journey.

As you get older and your perspective changes, you gain a whole new appreciation for the opportunities you've been given and begin to live a "want to" life instead of a "have to" life. You understand the importance of surrounding yourself with people who encourage you to be better- whether it's easy or not. You get more out of your experiences, and take more pride in the work that you do. All of these things create in you a passion that is contagious and is a breath of fresh air to the companies, organizations and people that you associate with.