The recent pandemic hit everyone hard, changing millions of lives overnight. My whole life was flipped, my husband was furloughed, our children couldn’t go to school and no one was allowed to go anywhere or see any family or friends. With no clear cut directions or solutions set in place, everything felt bleak. Even with all of this negativity surrounding us, my family and I would not let this tough time bring us down. Instead we focused on what we could control. We spent more time together, reading, hiking—my favorite activity was doodling with my kids and Mo Willems, the famous children’s book author. With the extra time we gained, being unable to socialize, I found the time to pursue my master’s degree. I knew in the back of my mind, we could turn this gloomy situation into something much more pleasant by focusing our energy on the small accomplishments of our day and thinking positively.

It’s the power of perception that determines the outcomes of whatever situation a person may be in. From how much you enjoy your job, to being more productive, to embracing an intolerable environment, all formed by your mind’s perceptioin. A study done in 2017 dives deep into human perception and asks if simply framing a task as “multi-taking” could improve performance. Participants completed tasks faster, worked longer, and answered more questions correctly. “This suggests that participants in the multitasking condition were more engaged and aroused during the activity when such activity was construed as multitasking as opposed to single-talking.” The only factor that changed between the groups studied was whether or not they were told they were multitasking. 

We don’t need external factors telling us how to perceive a situation because we have the ability to reframe our thinking. In my favorite podcast, Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam spoke with psychologist Amy Wrzesniewski who studied the cleaning staff at a hospital to understand the meaning of their work, what their experiences were and if they enjoyed it. She was surprised to see a divide in how they talked about their jobs, one group described what they do exactly as it is listed in the job description while a second group felt they had more purpose and were there to help the staff and patients in any way they could. This second group expressed enjoyment from their work and felt they held a ‘highly-skilled’ position. Wrzesniewski found the “people who see meaning in their work are significantly more satisfied with their jobs and their lives.” Even though the two groups performed identical tasks, had similar shifts and units, their perceptions of their jobs were vastly different. The second group went out of their way to help patients and their families, they also worked more hours, missed less days and were more engaged in what they were doing. They crafted their job into such a way that it brought them satisfaction and they were happy to be there.  

Since we are all still engulfed in the pandemic and no one really knows when we may get back to our new normal, instead of hiding indoors, this winter my family and I are going to embrace the idea of ‘friluftsliv’. This Norweigin word means “open-air living.” Even though the weather is cold and there are long stretches of rain day, Norweigin’s have a sunny disposition. They have a saying “there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing!” Being so close the arctic Norway experiences many days where the sun does not rise and they are in the dark, many people might experience seasonal depression. Not Norway, they are ranked the 5th happiest place in the world! Their culture involves going outside all of the time, they go for walks, bike rides, even to get a beer with a friend, they surround themselves with nature all of the time. Inspired by the Norweigin people, this winter I plan to bundle myself up and head out to enjoy some ‘friluftsliv’!

Please don’t be fooled, I am not the most happy-go-lucky person, my sister always says I’m negative, however since I am aware of my tendency I work to change my thinking. Before I go to bed, my ritual is to think about the good in my life. What positive things happened to me that day? I try to not repeat the same things so I can dig deeper and recognize the wonderful things I’m surrounded by. I also look to the days and weeks ahead so I have something to look forward to. Just as each study outlined above indicates, how you perceive your situation around you has a great impact on your life, you can find meaning and satisfaction by just viewing your life differently.