Life is filled with ups, downs, detours, and the occasional giant pothole. We all have moments when we become too focused on our problems, disappoints, or goals and lose a healthy perspective. Losing perspective leads to frustration, stress, bad attitudes and other unpleasantness I would rather avoid.
Wouldn’t you?
In those moments we’ll have an easier time if we teach ourselves to realize when our focus has become skewed and take steps to reassess and refocus. Refocusing takes intention. We must make daily choices to foster healthy attitudes and take appropriate steps to a healthier perspective when our world goes tilt.
Here are seven daily choices that will help you maintain a healthier, happier perspective:
You can choose:
- kindness over being right
- people over your agenda or schedule
- to see the humor as well as what went wrong
- to trust God and give up trying to control everything
- to accept and adapt rather than fight and resist
- to get up and try again instead of wallowing in pity and defeat
- to take one small step in a positive direction. And then another one.
Attitude is half the battle, but sometimes you need to take an active part in changing your perspective. The good news is that small, simple actions like these can help.
Here are seven simple strategies to help you change your perspective:
- Stop and breathe. Are your emotions getting the best of you? Stop what you are doing and focus on slow breaths. In. Hold. Out. In. Hold. Out. Repeat at least ten times. Relax your tight muscles and release the anger, worry, and fear.
- Get up and move. A little blood flow does wonders for clearing the brain and rejuvenating flagging energy levels. Exercise, no matter how simple, has been shown to relieve stress and improve mood.
- Take a short break. It may be our lousy mood or warped perspective is caused by nothing more sinister than the midday slump (a phenomenon common to all humans). A short break can make all the difference. Walk away from the task and give your brain ten to fifteen minutes to think about something else. Studies show that for best results you should avoid electronic devices.
- Make a gratitude list. Grab a scrap of paper and list five things you are grateful for right now. This simple trick will help you see the good even when life sucks. When you focus on being grateful, your perspective about life naturally improves.
- Ask yourself, “Is this problem/concern/fear bigger than God?” (Hint: The answer is NO.)
- Ask yourself, “what is the very worst that can happen here, and how life-shattering will it be?” Chances are, the very worst scenario isn’t as terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad as your emotions are telling you.
- Just for fun, Exaggerate. Imagine you are in an episode of I Love Lucy. If Lucy were facing this situation, how would she manage to make it worse? How much can you laugh at the resultant ridiculousness?
We all struggle from warped perspective at times. I hope these suggestions will help you the next time you need to change your perspective.
Photo credit: Joliet concrete solutions
