Perspective Changes the Game

Thoughts, words, ideas, instructions come to mind constantly. Regularly thinking of ways to become better and at the same time make others better. I won't say that I see things others cannot see but I take the time to see what others don't. I see the real, the real underneath the outward behaviors, anger, negativity, and acting out. When someone’s life is unstable with too many things going on, I can see chaos. I see the noise that drowns out what could be a peaceful life. Misunderstood many times, it's not that I'm a "know it all" or a psychic, not a all or that I think I'm better. These are the thoughts some people have that prevent them from receiving what I have to say. Some people think that the way that I live my life is not a way they could live their life therefore the message of what works for me doesn’t pertain to them. How do I live? In reality, learning constantly, and seeing things, situations and people for what they are, not for what I want them to be. See in my life I’ve experienced hurt, pain, tragedy, circumstances that could have stopped me in my tracks but I chose not to allow it. I chose to use those situations as stepping stones, as the motivators that push me forward putting me ahead in this game. I'm sure everyone can remember a time when someone, who otherwise should have been encouraging, told you that you could not accomplish what you aspire to be or made you feel like you were not capable of success. (Side note, people tend to not believe in you because they don't believe in themselves, how could you possibly accomplish something that they can't?- that's a whole nother story we'll get into a little later) There have been instances where advisors, teachers, counselors, family members provided their "thoughts" on what you can't do. It's funny how there are so many people who have a so much to say about what's wrong with your decisions or your life for that matter, but not as many people who would tell you what you're doing right or how to build after a set back. These words have an affect on us and at that moment we have a choice. We can prove them right or we can prove them wrong. Use those words to fuel your fire.

We all have choices. There are consequences and rewards for those choices. Every moment of our lives is determined by the choices we make. We have to take responsibility for where we are in life. As adults blaming society, our parents, our family, our past for where we are today is not acceptable. At some point you have to stop and look around. How did you get here? Where do you go from here? I can see the consequences  before I make a decision to do something. If those consequences are not worth it to me, I decide against it. Sounds easy, but it's not. There are sacrifices when you make the "right" choice. Many times we do not want to make those sacrifices. Sometimes I went against my good conscience and had to experience  the consequences of those decisions. We all do. So I am not saying I did not ever make the “wrong” choice, I did, but I tried to learn more about myself with every experience. The biggest lesson I have learned is about perspective. Everyone has a different perspective, how they see life, how they see people, how they see situations that happen in their lives, etc.

Perspective changes the game. Perspective is something you have control over. Sometimes our emotions are so strong we think that we can only see things one way. Once we get past the emotions, we must look at a situation from all angles. It is so easy to point out what is bad or negative about a situation so in the beginning we have to make ourselves see the good or positive side of things. No matter how you see it, it is truth. The negative is truth, the positive is truth, but the question you must ask where do you want to focus your thoughts and energy. If you think about it, every situation has a negative and a positive side. For example: a new job is good right but there could be negative things you can point out like the salary, your co-workers, the annoying tasks, etc. On the positive side you have a new job, getting new experiences, learning new information and skills to build your career. There are so many angles, the perspective we choose to take is how the situation will turn out. Most of the time the negative aspects are things we cannot control anyway. Why focus on things you can't change? To me my perspective is real. I see people and situations for what they are. I try not to over analyze or put meaning to it or them. And guess what, it may not be personal. When things happen to us, we take it personal as a personal attack. Sometimes it's in close relationships or in situations where you think people should be looking out for you so we get hurt. Sometime we look at people who do things and we try to put our meaning to it or try to figure out why or make excuses for them. Not your job. Take the action for what it is. We do the same thing with circumstances in our lives. We have to step outside of ourselves and look at it from all angles. What is the lesson in this? How can I work this out to be in my favor? If it's overwhelming at first, step away, don't think about it for a while, do some activities to take your mind off of it. Then come back to it with a clear head. Our first response is to panic, fight that urge. Things are never as bad as we think.

Postive perspective is a habit. What we have to do is practice it until it comes natural to us. Healthy eating, exercising, taking naps are all habits. It is something you have to do over and over again before you do it without thinking. We may see things from a negative perspective, we have to catch ourselves doing it, replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. It is work at first, like any other good habit. Eventually you will find your self seeing the positve aspects of a situation. The outcome helps; when you think positive, your actions will follow and your results will also be positive. Once you see the link, you will be more open to having a positive perspective. Also people don't want to be around a sour puss, complaining all the time, so if that's the song you sing, you may want to change that tune, before your find yourself by yourself. Sing a joyful song!