Perspective - Day 3

When we’re in high-drama mode, everything is a crisis.

But that’s often because we need the adrenalin or we’re bored.Perspective acknowledges that the other person has a point of view. And it says that how he or she views the situation is as valid to them as our point of view is to us. But a problem can arise when we practice too much perspective: we begin only to see the other point of view and forget that our point of view matters too.Don’t assume that others are feeling how we’d be feeling if we were them. That’s not perspective. It’s naively assuming the other person is just like us.The ability to get into other people’s heads, see things their way, and acknowledge the validity of their point of view is a learned skill that takes practice and time.

Challenge: The hardest thing about perspective is it means we need to grow up. Or maybe we don’t. One way to have good perspective is to see the world through the eyes of a child. We innocently report. We accept how others think and feel. If something is bad or sad, or we’re scared, we say that. We say how we feel and what we want and need. We know that when we’re tired, we see things out of focus. And when things get too difficult, we either go play in the park or we take a nap.

Somehow we know that everything will work out.

From the book: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact