In recent weeks, I’ve seen several online videos on social media, or engaged in a meeting or teaching session via zoom. Sometimes, the presenter had the camera positioned in such a manner that the perspective wasn’t especially flattering. You’re probably familiar with what I’m referring to. You know, those selfie videos in which the person speaking shows us an up-the-nose or a saggy neck perspective, or is looking down at the camera and appears half asleep. While no one expects perfection with these types of videos or online meetings, still, perspective makes a difference.
With the dawn of a new year, have you considered adjusting your perspective? I’m referring to how you view life—relationships, work, challenges, and personal development.
Following are reasons to adjust your perspective:
Often Perspective is Skewed
When someone is learning to paint, one of the most important aspects is mastering perspective. Perspective creates depth and space, providing a three-dimensional, more realistic view. Without proper perspective, a painting looks strange, as if you are seeing it from different directions at the same time.
In college art history courses, we studied artists who painted from various perspectives. I was intrigued by the art of Andre Mantegna, who painted some of his works from a worm’s-eye perspective. When you look at his paintings, you feel as if you are seated on the ground looking up. People in the paintings look huge, towering above you.
Sometimes we look at life from a worm’s-eye perspective. Challenges and difficulties seem lofty, far above our capabilities. Problems appear insurmountable when viewed from our lowest point emotionally. Occasionally, others insert their perspectives on what you are dealing with, viewpoints that sometimes confuse or complicate.
In order to view situations accurately, it’s important to determine if your personal perspective is on-target for your circumstances, or if some adjustment is needed. By assessing and altering your perspective, you’re able to view issues in a more realistic and optimistic light.
Perceptions Are Sometimes Inaccurate
Have you ever made a snap judgment about someone you didn’t really know based on casual observation or one encounter with the person? Or have you decided, in advance, that an appointment, gathering, or meeting is going to be difficult, unpleasant, or unproductive, and then it turns out to be just the opposite?
Perception is often clouded by past experiences, our backgrounds, and insecurities. If you’ve had a bad experience with someone who reminds you of someone else, or feel insecure or threatened by a person or setting, your perception is off.
In order to change your perception, you have to stop making assumptions, pushing aside inaccuracies in the same way wipers swipe a rain-soaked windshield. And just as rain obscures vision again when you turn off the wipers, so it may take more than one or two attempts to overcome preconceived notions and adjust your thoughts toward positives rather than potential negatives.
More Positive Outlook
The word “outlook” has several definitions: a place offering a view, a point of view, a prospect for the future, and the act of looking outward. All of these definitions speak to looking beyond your present location or moving forward from your current position. Your outlook on life, your circumstances, and the future can be either positive or negative.
If your perceptions and perspective routinely render your outlook more negative than positive, it’s time for some introspection. What causes you to lean toward a negative outlook? Past hurts or embarrassments? A melancholy personality? Fear—of change, the unknown, the future?
Most of us could probably check several of the above, but by accessing and adjusting your perspective, you gain a more positive approach to life and ignite forward motion.
Any time you face a situation that triggers uncertainty and negativism, remember you are not alone. Resources are available. For me, those resources includes spiritual guidance through prayer, scripture reading, and conversation with others who believe God is a faithful and ever-present advocate.
Life frequently presents us with challenges, but facing those challenges and overcoming them, depends in large part on gaining the proper perspective.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.” Romans 12:2 TLB
©CandyArrington
Candy Arrington is a writer, blogger, speaker, and freelance editor. She often writes on tough topics with a focus on moving beyond difficult life circumstances. Candy has written hundreds of articles, stories, and devotionals published by numerous outlets including: Inspiration.org, Arisedaily.com, CBN.com, Healthgrades.com, Care.com, Focus on the Family, NextAvenue.org, CountryLiving.com, and Writer’s Digest. Candy’s books include When Your Aging Parent Needs Care (Harvest House) and AFTERSHOCK: Help, Hope, and Healing in the Wake of Suicide (B&H Publishing Group).
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