Sunday 23 April 2017

A new life; a new perspective

The largest obstacle standing in our way to happiness is our own mindset.

Life is an in-depth experience. It’s filled with plenty of emotional and physical ups and downs and trials and triumphs. We all know not every experience is positive. The reality is; YOU are the one that defines whether an experience is positive or negative. The truth is; life is all about perspective.
Happiness depends a lot on how you see reality. You’re never going to get where you want to be without securing a good positive perspective of reality. There are multiple ways to alter your perspective. Many of which are listed in the pages ahead. Below is an example of how perspective is a game-changer in reality.
It’s a matter of perspective

Example 1: A twelve year-old child loses his father to a cancer related death and sees the experience as 100% negative. His mindset is severely affected to the point he can no longer focus on regular life situations. He has nightmares every night that wake him in a panic. Graphic images of the pain and suffering his father went through while battling cancer plasters his mindset with sadness. He can’t handle it. He quickly loses interest in his passions, and deep down inside he has resentment for not spending quality time with his father. In fact, his happy memories with his father are replaced by the resentment. He is a lost soul, and down the road he gets mixed up with negative influences, quits school, becomes an intense drug abuser, and by the age of fifteen attempts committing suicide trying to end his emotional pain.

Let’s look at the same scenario with a different perspective. The perspective of his Mother.
Example 2: His mother – someone who’s been a part of his father’s life for over thirty years sees the very same situation 100% differently. In fact, she sees more positive in his death. Although she’ll miss him dearly forever, she too awakes from the very same nightmares her son gets, but her anxiety quickly vanishes when she’s reminded that he is in a safe place; in heaven, or reincarnated again, or whatever she believes. This sends a warm feeling through her body which comforts her in a way that couldn’t be felt before when he was alive. The death of her husband doesn’t hit her nearly as harsh as it hit her son simply because she’s cultivated a healthier perspective of reality.

As you can see, Death is a rather dramatic situation to discuss. I thought I would use it as an example to show you even in the darkest stages of our lives there’s plenty of positives to pull. Death is a common experience in all our lives. Whether you’ve faced it yet or not, it’s inevitable you’ll experience the loss of a loved one in your lifetime. In this instance, let’s compare the positives versus the negatives.

Positives: He no longer suffers from pain from his Chemo treatments anymore, I no longer have to deal with his negative mindset anymore (he’s changed so much – it’s like he’s a completely different person)

Negatives: He won’t be there to talk to anymore/He won’t be a part of my life anymore.

It all depends on how you look at any given situation. Although it isn’t an easy to grasp on to positives within Death, however, as you can see (above) there are a few positives you can harness in this instance. There are positives within every situation, you just need to open your mind to see them. Death is a great example to use because so many negative emotions are stirred by simply just discussing the matter, let alone actually experiencing it with someone close to you. Again, not every experience is going to be positive. It’s your choice to look at any given experience as a positive or negative; it all depends on how willing you are to sway your imagination. You can apply this strategy to any situation in life.

Not one person among the nearly seven billion people on this planet see or experience the same type of reality. This knowledge should serve us incredible inspiration because it means we’re all unique in our life patterns. This means YOU are the creator of your own reality. YOU are in charge of your own happiness. YOU are the one that determines whether a situation is positive or negative. You can alter your reality through a slight change in perspective.

Be the change you’re looking for in your life.

Exercise: Observing your daily choices
The first step: When you awake tomorrow morning jot down how you feel. Are you excited to tend to your planned activities, or are you dreading getting out of bed, repeatedly hitting the snooze bar? What motivates you to jump in the shower and start the day? Your answers are an integral part of this activity.

The second step: At the end of the night make note of your daily choices. Did you make the healthiest choices today? What would you have done differently? What did you learn from your experiences today?

Do this for at least one full week. When you’re focusing on the larger, more impacting situations of each day, ask yourself why you made each choice. What led you to choose it? Where did the inspiration come from? And, what was the result? Ask yourself questions like, was this a good choice or should I have chosen something different? And, what would the best decision have been? Asking these types of questions will help you clarify your motives. Having clear motivation equals a genuine perspective of what lies ahead.