Don’t Get Used to the View

Last week, I went on a ski trip to Utah with my friends from university. I was constantly astounded by the view, and I remember one vivid moment where my giddiness bubbled over.

One of the days was unseasonably warm, around 60 degrees, so instead of going skiing that day, I decided to go rock climbing. On the way back from my trip I was walking to the rental car and I took stock of my surroundings. It was a sunny 60-degree day, I was in shorts and a t-shirt in a shopping plaza in the middle of the city, and as far as the eye could see in every direction, I was surrounded by massive, snowy mountains. It was such a departure from living in Boston, where you have to drive hours north to get even a shadow of the same view, that I just started smiling like a fool. I felt completely invigorated and thought to myself, “wow, imagine what it would be like seeing this every single day.”

I then noticed all of the nearby locals eyeing me oddly as they went about their grocery shopping and other daily tasks, and I figured I must have looked a little crazy, stopped dead in the middle of the street with a silly grin on my face. Clearly, they weren’t as impressed as I was, and I realized that the view probably just becomes expected if you live in Salt Lake City.

This reminded me of an example I’d heard from one of my biology teachers at Boston University on human nature and the ability for humans to adapt to a variety of scenarios. The example goes like this: If you walk into your bedroom, and there’s a tiger in the corner of the room staring at you, you’re probably going to scream, get a burst of adrenaline, and run out of your room. However, if every single day you were forced to stay in the bedroom, and the tiger always ignored you, by the 1000^th day, you’re going to walk into the room and have no reaction – no adrenaline burst, no flight or fight response, because you’ve learned to accept that the tiger is there and have stopped perceiving it as anything out of the ordinary.

I think the reaction to the view is similar, even though for me it was a positive reaction rather than a fear-based reaction. When I noticed that the Utah residents were essentially ignoring the beautiful view, at first I thought “These people are crazy! There’s no way I would ever stop appreciating a view like this!” But I realized that over time, its simply human nature to get used to your surroundings, and it can be really hard to stop and smell the roses and be appreciative of the everyday things in your life.

This experience has made me reflect on my life and wonder – back home in Boston, what have I grown so accustomed to that I take it for granted and don’t appreciate?

There is the obvious comparison of the beauty of the city itself – I grew up in Boston, so I never really had the experience of “seeing it for the first time”, and it can be hard for me to appreciate the beauty of the city as some of my friends do who moved here later in life. But beyond just this, I’ve started thinking of other aspects of my life that I’ve grown accustomed to and how I should be more appreciative for the things that I have. For example, I’m very lucky to be living in an apartment close to the city with a steady income. So many people are in more difficult situations than me. I’m thankful to be surrounded by people in my life that I love and care for and that feel the same way for me.  There are so many things that I’ve just begun to accept as normal in my life that I could appreciate more.

I do think the concept can be applied to your job as well. Sometimes you might grow frustrated with a project team, or an initiative that you’re working on, and you might have a coworker who seems like they’re working on a project that’s really fun, or a friend in a different job that you might think sounds more interesting – but in reality a lot of the times I think it’s a “grass is greener” mentality, and those people probably have their own frustrations, issues, etc. that aren’t easily seen on the surface. Staying appreciative of the positive aspects of your work can help you get through the tough days when nothing goes the way you wanted it to.

Going forward, if I start to feel unhappy or unappreciative in my daily life, I’ll strive to remember that feeling in the shopping plaza in Utah, and try not to get too used to the view.