A few days ago, the headline of the Huffington Post read “SMOKE MONSTER,” bolstered by dramatic pictures of the Iceland Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption. I showed my wife the lovely animation (below) of how the cloud spread across Europe in a matter of days, to which she remarked,

“Good thing we’re not traveling there right now… or is it!?”

It took me a moment, but I quickly realized exactly what she meant.

Being “stuck” in Amsterdam or Prague a few more days doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Last week in the Phoenix airport I saw the latest footage of the havoc volcanic residue is having on European travel, showing travelers stranded everywhere and fed by the caption: “Making the best of a bad situation.”

But it’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

Many of our life situations aren’t really good or bad; we assign those values ourselves.

Makes me wonder if we can adopt that approach in other areas of our lives. Maybe unemployment becomes an opportunity to finish the book idea that’s been rattling around. Maybe a job interview becomes an opportunity to learn something new about a company. Maybe the eruption of a volcano gives us a good excuse to enjoy a few more days in an amazing foreign city.

I know this doesn’t work for everything, but I also know I could probably use this technique and adjust my perspective a lot more than I currently do.

P.S. More incredible Eyjafjallajökull pictures here.

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