How To Change Your Perspective

[sparklekaz]

How often have you heard it said, that if we want to create a positive change in our lives, we need to create a shift in our perspective. What is perspective? Perspective is the way in which we view our surroundings, the people in our lives and the way we think about ourselves.

We did not just wake up one morning, with a perception. It has grown and evolved over time. Everything that has happened to us to date, colours our perception of the world around us. Our likes and dislikes, our self belief and what we see as our strengths and limitations.

But I want you to consider for a moment, just how accurate are we in our own self assessment? So many of us are so lacking in confidence, can we be truly unbiased. Our friends and family often have more confidence and faith in us, then we do.

Is it fair to limit yourself to what you believe is true about You! In reality, you have no idea, what your real potential is do you? Or what you are capable of doing or becoming. The truth is, non of us are, until we try. I am sure we have all at some point in our lives, tried something new, and found to our surprise, that we were actually good at it. What a shock! But what a pleasure! This is just one aspect of perception, the perception you have about yourself. Now lets look at life.

When we are sad, feeling unwell or vulnerable. The world can seem a grey and frightening place to be. The world looms large and nosily in front of you. Yet, if you could find just one thing, one small example of beauty, love and kindness, you would see how the world can tilt and change. Things seem lighter, warmer, more colourful, and safe. Just one thing, can make this difference. When you find one thing, look for another, and another.

Going within, finding stillness and peace, can also create a change in your perception. No matter how the world on the outside appears to us, if inside, there is turmoil, doubt and constant mental chatter, it is hard to focus on anything. Meditation, or simply relaxing with your eyes closed to some beautiful music, can be the start of a inner shift.

If you stop worrying for one second, the world will not cease to spin, and no one will get hurt. Give yourself permission, to let go. Surrender to life and accept things as they happen. Believe that in some way, it has a meaning a purpose, even if at this point in time you cannot see or understand what it is. Simply doing this can be so liberating.

To create a shift in your perspective, in your life, requires you to let go of the belief, that your thoughts, idea’s about who you are and the world around you, are set in stone. Let go of the chains that tie you to previous experiences, especially if they have been negative ones. Let go of judgments and expectations. Be open, expect the unexpected, and welcome it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Love and light
Kaz

[donq]

Hi Karen,

Very good post! And let me share something here.

Why do we have a negative perspective? That's the question, isn't it?
Why do we see only the glass half empty but not half full? Can I call it an epidemiology of a negative (pessimistic) perspective?
There is a classic example about this which has something to do with a schizophrenic. A patient comes into the hospital canteen and the girl behind the counter says, "What can I do for you?" The patient is in doubt as to what sort of a message this is-is it a message about doing him it? Is it an indication that she wants him to do to bed with her? Or is it an offer of a cup of coffee?
(from "Epidemiology of a Schizophrenia" by Gregory Bateson)

I believe that we get our negative perspectives because we don't know what messages we've got really are (and hence, our thoughts about those messages). We've seen the glass and cannot determine if the glass half empty or half full. And somehow, seeing only the glass half empty could really create negative perspectives on us in the long run.
And life is more complicated than that. Bateson told what happened when once he bought some flowers and visited his patient's mother:

"I took the gladioluses and presented them to the mother with a speech that I wanted her to have in her house something that was 'both beautiful and untidy.' 'Ohl' she said, 'Those are not untidy flowers. As each one withers, you can snip it off.'
"Now, as I see it, what is interesting is not so much the castrative statement  in that  speech,  but  the  putting me  in  the  position  of having apologized when in fact  I  had not.  That  is,  she took my message and reclassified it. She changed the label which indicated what sort of a message it was, and that is, I believe, what she does all the time.  An endless taking of the other person's message and replying to it as if it  were either a statement  of weakness on the part of the speaker or an attack on her which should be turned into a weakness on the part of the speaker; and so on. What  the patient  is  up against  today—and was  up against  in childhood—is the false interpretation of his messages."

Okay, lucky that our mothers didn't do that to us (or except that I'm writing this in the mental hospital ). But the thing is, we always meet this kind of message reclassified persons in the real life situation. Or so many times, we do that to ourselves, reclassifying the messages we got. For example, you said "Hi" to a friend but she didn't say anything back. What did you interpret that message? Would it upset you? Did she really ignore and didn't care about you at all or she just got a very bad day, says got the bad news about her sicked mother etc.?
And this is the reason why we need spirituality for our balance checking. In fact, the glass isn't really half empty nor half full. It is as it is. You might never known if your mother's friend really got sick or she just ignored you, but at least, you have to know how to change your perspective, as Karen said on this thread.

Let me finish this post by quoting Bateson again (though I believe most of us already know well about Zen):

In the Eastern  religion,  Zen Buddhism, the  goal is  to  achieve enlightenment.  The  Zen  master  attempts  to  bring  about enlightenment in his pupil  in various ways.  One of the things he does is to hold a stick over the pupil's head and say fiercely, "If you say this stick is real, I will strike you with it. If you say this stick is not real,  I will strike you with it.  If you don't  say anything, I will strike  you  with  it."  We  feel  that  the  schizophrenic  finds  himself continually  in  the  same  situation  as  the  pupil,  but  he  achieves something  like disorientation  rather  than  enlightenment. The Zen pupil might reach up and take the stick away from the master—who might accept this response, but the schizophrenic has no such choice since with him there is no not caring about the relationship, and his mother's aims and awareness are not like the master's.

P.S. I do love the (GIF) photo. As it's said, "a picture tells a story just as well as, if not better than, a lot of written words....is worth a thousand times more than a thousand words", indeed!
 

 

   
 

 
 

[aum]

Hi Kaz
I am sorry about the last post.
I do like a lot about perspective you have written.
Thank You

[aum]

Hello Kaz

I do like a lot about perspective you have written.

Thank You