The streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds.  They walked over a pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the brightness of the sun.  The window panes were of green glass; even the sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were green.  –From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Wouldn’t you love to visit a place like the Emerald City of Oz where everything is shiny and green?  Would you like to even live there?

I thought about that when I went to the see the Broadway show Wicked.  With our ticket we each received a program…and a pair of green glasses.

(c) Kathleen Thompson

And what amazing glasses they were!  It didn’t matter what color the actual object was.  With the glasses on it would look green.  Water?  Green.  Sky?  Green.  My dining room table?  Yep.  Green again.  Depending on the hue of the original object the green would be lighter or darker.  And still always green.  Just because I wore my special glasses.

What if we could do that with our lives?  Wear different glasses and see differently?  Well, guess what.  We do.

They might be blue, smoky grey, rose, yellow, or green.  And after a while, our eyes adjust to the glasses and we don’t see the tint.  But it’s there nonetheless.  Affecting our view of our environment.  Our story.

If your view is looking a bit grey, why not try a different color glasses?

If your story isn’t working for you, why not tell a new one?  One where you overcome adversity.  Slay the dragon…or the wicked witch.  Where you’re the hero…not the victim.

Once your view changes, everything else will start to change too.  Dorothy and her friends gathered up the courage to go after the Wicked Witch of the West.  Imagine what you can do once you’ve seen life through different glasses!  Told a different story!

Why?  Because you live what you can see.  Imagine.  The story you write comes from the one you tell yourself.

So put on those green glasses and see what happens.  What have you got to lose?  It may feel silly in the beginning.  Foreign.  Like the colors got mixed up on the color wheel.  Eventually your eyes will adjust to the new light.  You’ll see and take new paths.  And find your adventure over the rainbow.

What color glasses do you want to wear?  Share in the comments.