Struggle to perspective

Most of us know that some of our best ideas come when we are in the shower. This blog post idea is no different and it is on to the topic of showering 🚿! Before I dive in, what do you think I mean by struggling to perspective….

To me life is about experiencing struggle and learning seeing the world differently. How you travel in your 20s is vastly different to your 40s. Your ability to take criticism / feedback will evolve due to the perspective you gain from the journey up until this point. It’s worth reading that last sentence again as it is that very idea that provides the link between struggle and perspective.

From mid-December through until early March I had no heating or hot water in my apartment. This is during London’s famously wet / cold and gloomy winter. The reason for this apartment issue is an entire blog post in itself. In short it was caused by significant negligence on the part of the original builders and our management company.

Back to showering, I like to be quick. I get in and get out. I find showering to be a chore but a necessary one. I even squeegee down the shower at the end to mitigate the mould/mildew (thanks Mum 👋); again I’m in London. I also take care of my body therefore I moisturise and putt back into the body. Suffice to say it takes me approximately 5 - 10 minutes. This is time I’d rather spend doing something else.

During our winter the "no hot water time suck" went up significantly. My first idea was to join another gym. I already had a gym membership across the road however they didn’t have showers. Therefore I joined another gym about 10 minutes walk so I could take a shower there. This routine took me 35 minutes - 10 minutes walk up, 15 minutes to shower / change and 10 minutes walk home.

The next idea came from my wife. She decided to purchase a camping shower and this helped cut down the time somewhat. Whilst I saved the walk up and back to the 2nd gym I still had to spend about 10 minutes heating up a large pot on the stove.

In March, after some significant back forth with the management company and multiple contractors, we have our hot water and heating back 💪. The latter (heating) isn’t necessary anymore as the weather is better. The hot water however is more than welcome. It wasn’t until tonight (during my shower) that I realised how easy and efficient my shower process is now compared to the last few months. This is the same exactly shower I was having back in December. The timing hadn’t changed, my perspective of it had changed given the last few months of struggling.

You can use this idea in so many facets in your life. For example, how easy is it to lift a particular weight today that you were struggling to lift only a month ago? How much faster you can read a book compared to half a year ago when you weren’t reading? How good does a home cooked meal taste when you’ve been on the road for the last week eating either rich or processed food? The list goes on however all three (and more) have happened to me.

Perspective is powerful. Reflect on the things you complain about and really put them into perspective. How far have you come? What have you learned? How can you look at situations differently. Struggle!