Perspective…
How often have you snapped a photo only to realize it looks like there is a tree or lamp growing out of someone’s head? I don’t know why it’s so difficult to remember to pay attention to the background of a photo, rather than fixating on the foreground subject. But it is (for me at least.)
Photos with trees growing out of someone’s head may not be a major life problem, but it’s a simple example of how easy it can be to develop a skewed perspective about something in our lives. The good news is that, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in, we have the power to change our perspective. It may not be easy, but it is possible.
Child, you have to learn to see things in the right proportions. Learn to see great things great and small things small.
― Corrie Ten Boom
Five ways changing your perspective can help you deal with life’s little problems
- Worry. If we find ourselves fixating over some hypothetical event that we fear, it can be helpful to step back and ask ourselves, “What is the worst thing that can happen in this case?” Chances are the worst-case scenario isn’t as dire as our emotions are making it out to be. Plus, there’s a high probability the matter won’t end in the worst-case scenario anyway. A little perspective can help us see that our mountains are really closer to molehills after all.
- Perfectionism. Most of us fight perfectionism to some degree or another. We may have perfectionist tendencies about our house, yard, work, art, parenting, … you name it. Perfectionism is like a set of binders that makes our efforts appear like an all-or-nothing deal—Either we perform the task perfectly or we’ve failed. Perspective removes the blinders and opens our eyes to all the other pieces of our life that we are ignoring when we focus solely on the not-yet-perfect thing. Are streak-free windows REALLY the most important thing in your life today? What about the other tasks and other people that could (or should) be given priority?
- Age. Our society spends billions of dollars trying to defeat the effects of aging. NEWS FLASH: We are never going to defeat aging. (Not in this life, anyway. The rules will be different when we get to Heaven.) I don’t like the downsides of aging any more than you do, but I’ve observed enough people over the years to know I’d rather accept the inevitable and learn to adapt than fight tooth and nail to maintain my fading youth. I choose to focus on what I can do and how I can adapt to a “new normal” rather than focus on what I have lost.
- Failure. We all hate it. We all face it. We don’t have to allow it to define us. Perspective allows us to step back and see a single failure in the greater backdrop of our whole life. We have overcome many setbacks in the past. We can overcome the latest one as well.
- Frustration. With situations. With people. With life. If we only see our side of an issue, we will spend a lot of time stuck in misunderstandings and frustration. When we look at a problem from a different angle, we may see a different reality. Looking at things from another person’s point of view can help us discover where our skewed perspective on reality is causing a problem. Spin doctors understand the power of a looking at things from a new angle. It can do wonders for our own attitude as well.
Where can a change of perspective help you today?
