Linda Graham, MFT and author of Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty, and Even Disaster, shares one exercise from her book for improved resilience and well being.  
On my way to an early morning doctor’s appointment, my car got a flat tire. Drove to the neighborhood tire shop instead. They could replace the tire in an hour, in time for me to begin seeing clients for the rest of the day.  I walked home, walking down a street I had driven almost every day for years, but now seeing things at a completely different pace, from a completely different perspective.
There is the Spanish ambassador’s residence in my neighborhood. Who knew?  There is a home on the National Register of Historic Places; I never knew that. A neighbor has a pomegranate tree in their front yard. I never knew that either.
The delight that there was so much to discover in a few short blocks put all of the grump about the flat tire in perspective.  I have the privilege of being alive in a world full of awe and wonder, if only I take time to notice and expand my horizons.
That shifting of perspectives is at the core of resilience; being able

Originally published at http://loveandlifetoolbox.com