Perspective

I’ve always been fascinated with perspective. How changing the angle and distance from something can completely change what it looks like. A mountain changes depending on where we are, a mile away, a foot away, or on top of it. It’s the same object, but just seeing it from a different position and looking at the same thing in a different way changes our perception of it.
These amazing changes don’t just happen with objects but with everything about our lives. Our individual circumstances to our whole outlook on life can be different depending on our perspective...how we choose to see things.


You want to hear a confession? Sometime I allow myself to have pity parties and get sucked into  feeling sorry for myself. I know....gross right? I find the whole thing rather nauseating too but as soon as I allow my attention to focus on frustrations and everything that seems to be going so wrong, the pity party begins. It usually rears its ugly head when I start looking around and comparing my life with others who seem to have it better. Why do we feel justified rolling around in the muck of self pity? Self pity left unchecked can easily turn into bitterness and there is nothing good that comes from a life full of bitterness, absolutely nothing. Bitterness infects and poisons every area of someones life. 


This is where perspective comes in, a change in perspective does not necessarily change circumstances, but it changes me. The change of perspective comes when I correct where I put my focus. Focusing on what I am thankful for is the surest way out of the pit. When I start to look around at what I have to be grateful for, then the focus is on the beautiful things in my life, and that list is wonderfully long. A few of the things on the top of my list are the deep, rich relationships I have been blessed with, my husband, my kids, my family, my close friends, there is just nothing like having a community of people around you. There is such a richness in relationships that I am deeply thankful for. This list goes on and on when I start to focus on it, from having a roof over my head and food in my fridge to a good book and a cup of tea .......and chocolate (of course). 


Last but not least, what about God’s perspective? He often uses pain and tragedy to teach things that couldn’t be taught in any other way. Sometimes His perspective is, the pain and difficult place your in now is well worth the invaluable gift of compassion or patience or hope that is being produced in you. Now I know that’s way easier said than done, especially when your in the middle of it, I certainly don’t want to trivialize or discount peoples pain. Believe me, I’ve been in pretty dark places where focusing on anything but surviving is impossible. We will not always see or know the reasons God allows us to go through different things but He sees the big picture of our lives and of eternity. I've been asking God to help me see not only my life but all of life through His eyes. My seemingly insurmountable gigantic issues seem pretty puny when I catch a glimpse of God’s perspective.