LOOKING AT THE BIGGER PICTURE

It is important to look at what is accomplished by going through day-to-day situations or events that are unpleasant or frustrating. Quite often, one will discover that the outcome was positive in some way and sometimes you end up making the changes you were fighting in the first place if you just look at the bigger picture.

Last week was especially frustrating for me. I had a number of incidents take place that I certainly did not see as positive in any way as they were happening but once it was all over with…the benefits were evident.

The day started by having problems with my internet connection. This drives me crazy because the internet connection is the life line to my business. When it goes down, I start to freak – not right away but if the problem is not fixed in a few hours then the frustration starts to build. I contacted my internet provider and discovered that they were having problems with their lines so once I knew that, I started to relax.

That night, I discovered that it was still not working so I called my internet provider again only to discover that they were closed. Instant frustration! My old internet provider had recently been bought out by another company and apparently, they do not offer 24/7 support so I had to wait until the next morning to contact them.

The next morning, the connection was still not working so I called support again. I spoke to a representative who told me that the problems on their end were resolved so he figured it must be my computer. I found this difficult to accept because I had not done anything different in the last few days and the connection was working one moment and down the next. I could also connect using the phone connection without a problem – just not the DSL connection. We ran through a series of fix-its that did not work.

I thought I could narrow down the problem by trying the connection using my spare computer – that way I could tell if it really was my computer or not so I started up the other computer and instantly began to smell something burning. Yep, my power supply burnt out! By this time, I was really frustrated and my problem was still not resolved.

I had to take my spare computer in to be repaired so I brought both computers in and asked my computer “fix-it” guy (Dave) to test the internet connection for me. It worked fine at his place. It was not my computer. He also repaired the power source and replaced the fan because it was really noisy in my spare computer.

I reviewed what had happened and decided that I did not like the fact that I did not have 24/7 support. I was paying a lot of money and figured I was not getting value for my very hard earned dollar. So I made a decision…

The week before, I had switched my phone service to a company that offered a lower price on service with more features. At the time, I was asked if I wanted to bundle into a package of phone and internet which I declined – I was afraid of running into problems by making the change. I phoned them up and told them to switch. The installer had to get to my telephone jack to make changes and it was hidden behind the desk and was very hard to get to so I ended up taking my office apart and moving things around so it was easily accessible.

Later that night, Bell Telephone called because the internet provider put in a report that there were problems on the line. The Bell Rep checked and apparently there were problems in the area that would have affected my connection. They were still monitoring the problem and the connection might go up and down for a while. To help with the speed of the connection, she increased my connection from 3mg to 5mg (which would almost double my current speed connection).

I went through several very frustrating days but the end results were…

- lower prices on my long distance rates (only 2 cents per minute)
- a savings of close to $150.00 a year on internet and phone
- 10 Features on my phone (included in the bundle)
- 24/7 internet support
- double the speed of my internet connection
- easier accessibility to my phone connections
- easier accessibility to my electrical connections
- a better office set-up
- a quieter spare computer
- All in all, there were a lot of benefits that I received by going through so much turmoil.

Throughout the entire process, I kept thinking that weeks before I had decided that I was going to make decisions to make my life easier and that by going through the turmoil, I actually did end up improving my life circumstances and making things easier for myself.

So the next time you find yourself going through day-to-day events that are frustrating, check and see if the things that are happening are taking you to a better place – making your life better in some way or answering a need that you voiced. Try looking at the bigger picture and you may just discover that what happened were actually very positive in nature.

Wendy Kay

Copyright December 2009
About the Author - Wendy Kay has been studying and researching the spiritual realm for over 20 years. In 1997 she founded Oralin Centre (http://www.oralin.com/), which specializes in providing products, services and information for those who are interested in expanding their awareness, reaching their full potential and improving their quality of life.