I have a friend who had a girlfriend with my name. My name isn’t a common name like Bob. I am not used to hearing it unless they are addressing me. It was confusing when we all hung out so my friend decided to give me a nick name. She called me King. I was a bit miffed. I didn’t want to be called a dog’s name. “No” she said “it is about perspective. It’s like ‘Bond, James Bond.’” Wow, with that in mind “King, Lesley King” sounded much better. What a difference a change in perspective made. The girlfriend is gone but I am still known as King in that circle. It always makes me smile when I hear it.
We get to choose how we live our lives. We get to decide if we are happy or angry.
Perspective is one thing you can control. If someone says something you get to decide how you see it. You can look at the negative or at the positive connotation.
For example, what if someone tells you “You look like you lost weight?” You could take it different ways. If you take it positively you say, “Thank you” and walk away feeling beautiful. A negative response could be “Do I normally look fat? Do you think I am fat?” Now you are upset. How could they say that? Your friend is probably confused and sad you couldn’t just take the compliment. Where did the negative get you? They were just trying to be nice.
- Take three situations in your life over the last week.
- For each situation write three different perspectives.
- Write the outcomes from each perspective.
- Which perspective do you choose? How do you want to live your life?
