People only see what they are prepared to see.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

As a coach I spend a good deal of time working with people who are preparing to see.  Taking an assessment of your personal values and spending time considering what would be ideal in a given situation (job/day/home/partner/life — you fill in the blank) is key to enable you to SEE those ideals when you run into them.  A simple example:  If I were to ask you to close your eyes and imagine all the things that are red in your environment.  When you open your eyes chances are you’ll notice even more red than you realized.  Those red objects didn’t suddenly appear!  But now that you’ve consciously focused on "red" you really notice it.  Similarly, focusing on the attributes of an ideal situation brings those elements front and center in your consciousness, and into your sight.

Food for thought:  Choose a situation.  In great detail write what would make that situation ideal for you.  What do you see now?