Perspective makes all the difference: it’s how we view the world around us, our children, our homes, our partners and it’s how we view ourselves within the larger picture.
Perspective is a gift. It can happen in one serendipitous moment where the world shifts, giving us a fresh set of eyes and a new sense of being and purpose.
It can be an earthquake on an island far from where you live or a close friend’s marriage reaching it’s breaking point. It’s a pause, a reflection and a readjustment of our focus.
It can be walking a mile in someone’s shoes or being reminded what it feels like to be a small child in a big world.
It is realizing we are always but a breath away from death, and a present moment away from true living.
Shifting one’s perspective, consciously and purposefully, towards a focus on something that amplifies beauty, goodness and wellness in your world is a practice. It takes practice. Much like taking pictures and learning how to fine tune the focus of your camera on the image you see, letting all else blur into the outer edges.
Perspective can be happenstance, but it can also be a choice. Parenting can be a drag or it can be joyfully ever-expanding. Partnerships can be dull and monotonous or an adventure of a lifetime. Housework can be a chore or the rhythm that creates your day’s song. We often shift in and out of these perspectives, but it can be helpful to make a mindful choice of what is holding your attention this moment, this day, this week, this lifetime.
What perspectives are holding your focus today?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Like that second last paragraph hillary. Good words to keep me going.
i just sat by the fire reading a beautiful children’s book of poems called ‘winter eyes’ to my son.
the book is beautiful and my son enjoyed the gentle cadence of the words (as did i) but what really touched me deeply was the gentle reminder that i can choose which “eyes” i use to view the world around me.
.-= exhale. return to center.´s last blog ..one small change =-.
beautiful quote; beautiful post
.-= Alisha´s last blog ..2010 Bold Goal #1 =-.
I wanted to share the shift in perspective that inspired this post. I bumped into a neighbor and older mother who I really respect at the co-op yesterday. She has two older children (7& 10) and we were talking about adjusting to my surprise pregnancy and the feeling of starting all over again.
She, very lovingly, told me that she had a hard time being thankful for the younger years and how amazing it is once they are a little bit older as far as freedom for more personal time and space. She’s now pursuing her dream career, getting her masters at Cornell for community gardening, (something she had been waiting to do when the kids were little) and she shared her shift in perspective which was that those early years were far more important than anything else she could ever do with her life and she wishes she could have seen that at the time.
Her openly sharing her story created a shift in perspective towards one more of gratitude for these crazy early days of mothering and I want to focus on staying here more.
perspective shifts. I love those– and I’m having one right now:: the house is crazy with over-tire children, there are six piles of laundry on the floor, and someone just tracked across my freshly washed floor. Initial reaction:: ARGH! Perspective shift: gratitude for having this busy life-filled house and for a partner who is having me go visit with some girlfriends for a few hours this evening;)
Thank you for reminding me of this important lesson!