“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are — or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.”—Stephen Covey
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We live in a world dominated by ego. What is significant revolves around us, ourselves. We frequently believe ourselves to be right in our own minds. Our actions are deemed correct. We disregard others as they are perceived to be wrong from the outset. Our viewpoint is limited to our own perspective – we do not consider that of others.
The words of William James were indeed profoundly accurate. “The greatest discovery of my generation,” he once said, “is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind.”
I was reminded of a story written by Valerie Cox. It goes something like this:
A woman was waiting at an airport one night. With several long hours before her flight, she bought a book and a bag of cookies. She then found a place where she could sit and do her reading.
She was engrossed in her book but noticed that the man beside her was grabbing some cookies “from the bag between.” She tried to ignore the situation because she wanted to avoid making a scene.
The situation continued for some time. As she read and munched her cookies, the man was continuing to eat the cookies, too. She also continued to ignore him but she told herself, “If I wasn’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye!”
Then, finally, there was only one cookie left. The man took the last cookie and broke it in half. With a smile on his face, he offered her half and ate the other. She took the other half and thought, “This guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude. He didn’t even show any gratitude.”
Right there and then, she wanted to say something but her flight was called. She gathered all her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look back at the “cookie thief.” She boarded the plane and continued reading her book.
In the middle of the flight, she reached her back pack and “gasped with surprise.” She found her bag of cookies inside it.
“If mine were here,” she said, “then the cookies we were eating were his and he tried to share them with me.”
It was too late to apologize. She realized that she was the rude one and the thief.
Life is fundamentally about perspective. We must view situations from various angles. If someone has wronged you, attempt to understand it from their viewpoint. If you were in their position, would you act similarly? As the saying goes, there are always two sides to a coin.
Success and failure are intertwined. You either achieve victory or face defeat. However, it ultimately depends on your perspective whether you consider yourself a winner or a loser. A winner is always part of the solution, while a loser is invariably part of the problem.
The winner has a plan, whereas the loser always has an excuse. The winner states, “Let me assist you.” The loser grumbles, “That’s not my responsibility.”
The winner finds a solution for every challenge, while the loser identifies a challenge in every solution. The winner notices a green near every sand trap, but the loser perceives two or three sand traps near every green.
The winner asserts, “It may be challenging, but it is achievable.” The loser counters, “It may be achievable, but it is too challenging.”
Which perspective do you typically adopt?
Think positively, Norman Vincent Peale suggests. The Daily Motivator urges: “Use your energy and your time where they can make the biggest positive difference. Being positive is more than just repeating happy phrases.
“Being positive means living positively. Being positive means seeing the possibilities for improvement and advancement in every situation and acting on them.”
There’s more: “Being positive means doing what is necessary and right even if it is not easy or popular. Positive values are more than just platitudes. Sincere positive values result in effective positive actions. And those actions will bring real, lasting and substantial achievement.”
Now, here’s a reminder from Hal Elrod: “Never underestimate the power of gaining a new perspective by simply changing your immediate environment. Going for a walk, reading a book, or talking to a friend can provide you with life-changing insights that you would not otherwise attain while remaining stagnant.”
