Day 26: "Perspective," I remind myself. "It's all about keeping things in the proper perspective." When I start to lose my perspective, I go for a nature walk. The lichens and 'shrooms bring me down to earth, both figuratively and literally. Barring a lahar, they'll be there tomorrow and the day after, and the week after that, and if they don't come back next year, something else will take their place: equally beautiful, equally vital in its own niche. I am humbled by their perseverance and resilience as, on a whole, they adapt to changes in their circumstance, and I try to carry away with me the lesson which they silently put forth. Do I succeed? Not always, because I am human, but the lesson remains where I can refer to it time and again until it gives me some modicum of ease. Perspective. I need a walk.
