Perspective

This was my advent calendar on December 1.

For the past 10 years, I have filled the calendar the same way, placing one candy cane in a pocket each day, ending on Christmas Day. So on this 20th day of December, the calendar would traditionally look like this...

​But this year, it looks like this...

...because I had a helper. Our nine-year-old grandson Matthew took on the task from an entirely different perspective. He filled all the pockets, assuming that I would remove a candy cane every day, instead of add one. 
Matthew's method, which made perfect sense to him, took me totally off guard. "The calendar is already filled," I said. "So what am I supposed to do each day?" He looked at me with polite confusion, waiting a few seconds for the light bulb to switch on. 
Obviously, I was stuck in the "this-is-the-way-it's-always-been-done" mentality, which shuts down all other perspectives except one – my own. 
​
As if one perspective/paradigm shift weren't enough for a day, daughter Katherine added another...

 "Or you could do it this way," she suggested.

Of course, all you blog readers are already a step ahead of me, but this possibility never occurred to me either. In Katherine's method, all I ever needed was one – mobile – candy cane!

So what is the moral of this advent calendar story?

Be openminded
Think differently/creatively/outside the box
Look for alternative solutions
Break out of your routine
Explore off the beaten path
Ask people what they think; listen to their answers
Be sensitive to the ways people see the world differently
Be flexible

Take your pick or create your own.

At the threshold of a new year, they all resonate HOPE to me.
            May 2025 bring us together in our differentness. 

Peace,
​Twylla