Rosé Tinted Perspective

On the first day of a new beginning, I got several pings.

"Congrats on the new job," "Good luck today, and not just cuz it's Monday and frigid," "They won't know what hit em," "Don't worry if this doesn't work out…ehh, make it work."

"Kol haschalos kashos - All beginnings are difficult." Resonates well with we are creatures of habit. Creatures seem so apropos, so human; because it is so human to feel dually, excited, and indifferent at the same time.

It's like Touro; my mother reminded me. "Originally, you hated college. I had to beg you to attend summer classes." The transition from carefree seminary backpacker to serious student bogged down with textbooks, and a compressed social calendar was not the smoothest transition. And. We both agree that the Touro days were my favorite ones. It just took time to get my footing.

Not to get bogged down by the concept of rose colored glasses, but there is direct evidence that our mood changes the way our visual system filters our perceptual experience. This study suggests that seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is a more biological reality than a metaphor.

I saw a great post by Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi that ties the concept nicely,

All beginnings are difficult (Rashi, Exodus 19:5).

Learning something new may take effort, but once we make something a part of our routine, it becomes not only effortless but automatic. For example, when we learned to walk, it required conscious effort, as we can see when we observe children taking their first steps. Later on in life, walking takes no thought at all. The same holds for many other behaviors. Whenever we begin something new, we are, by definition, initiating some new type of behavior. The body naturally tends to return to the old, effortless pattern. Suppose the new action holds promises of significant gain (such as a new job, new business, or new learning), which we anticipate will be profitable. In that case, this anticipation of reward overcomes the resistance to change, and we adjust to the new.

When Moshe challenged Hashem why do seemingly bad things happen to good people and vice versa, Hashem countered, you can see the back of my head, meaning all will be revealed when it is behind us. Rabbi Efrem Goldberg said in a beautiful shiur on Emunah, we have to reframe our thinking towards challenges, it’s not bad things that happen but painful things, and the hindsight results that often ensue as a result of the pain is usually for the revealed good.

Sometimes a swig of Rosé does do the trick. But, and even more often, a gal pal pep talk (can be in meme/gif form); lends the right touch of bubbly to shift our gear and see things even more clearly. Take it day by day, task by task, and if need be, a pep talk is in order with yours truly. She's the only one that controls the essential gears anyways.