Photography is sometimes a strange hobby. As a photographer, I can show up to a familiar location certain that I will catch a specific shot, only to walk away with something completely different.

This hike to Mayflower Gulch in Colorado wasn’t really about capturing this delicate carpet of mountain florals rushing towards the mountains. What I wanted was an opportunity to shoot a night sky and a swirling milky way. Upon arrival it quickly became obvious that wasn’t going to happen. It was tempting to stubbornly continue and try to capture a picture that I had no power to make happen that evening. By allowing myself to be disappointed, and then letting go of the expectations I had laid for the evening’s photos the window of opportunity opened for this picture.

Does that make my original intentions wrong? Are the unexpected pictures I end up with bad for not being what I was planning? Certainly not!

As we live our lives this same scenario happens to most of us more than once. We set an expectation for a road trip to the beach and half way there, the car decides we have reached our final destination for the day. We plan the perfect holiday meal, only to be pulling burnt turkey out of the oven as the doorbell rings. That’s the point where we can declare the entire event a disaster, or choose to turn our perspective to suit our situation.

At some points in life, there has to be an acceptance about what we might not achieve, and a willingness to find out what is actually possible.

Let’s be honest, that necessary perspective change? It isn’t always easy. But, what if that town where the car broke down ends up having the perfect place to stretch your legs while the repair man works his magic? That burnt holiday meal? It ended in everyone skipping ahead to just desserts with little complaint.

The temptation when things don’t go according to our plan is to pack up shop and call everything a loss. Yet sometimes we really just need to change our focus to find the good where we are. I didn’t walk away with a print of the stars on this night in Summit county. Instead, it turned out to be something better, a gorgeous picture that can remind those who know its story that sometimes, the only thing we need to experience something remarkably beautiful, is an ability to adjust our focus.