By
Joshua
Michail
6 December,
2011
Lessons come to each of us in a variety
of ways throughout our lives. Some may not realize they are learning a
lesson, until later upon reflection. Some people may not even learn the
lesson that is there to be learned. Still others learn quite readily.
While some just lack the proper perspective to get the most out of the
lesson. Perspective can make all the difference. Though this point is
often missed or ignored altogether, the issue of perspective and its
importance is one life's greatest lessons.
Everyone has a perspective on any given
issue. Only the dead have none at all. Yet most people don't consider
their own perspective, nor do most care what another person's might be,
let alone giving any real thought to the nature of perspective itself.
So what is a “perspective” you might be asking? It is a point-of-view,
a way of looking at some issue. It is an attitude, or set of beliefs
and ideas, about some issue and applied to a given circumstance or
situation. In this fashion every person has some form of larger
philosophy to which they adhere. In fact, each perspective is a part
of, or is influenced or required by, one's philosophy. A perspective is
a little bit of philosophy. Though a perspective and a philosophy are
not the same thing, they are related and tend to go hand-in-hand.
A perspective can be changed. It is
actually possible to change many of one's perspectives without actually
changing one's philosophy. Changing one's perspective may not always be
such an easy thing to do. But it can become a little easier as one
gains experience in it. There can be some good reasons to change a
perspective. Depending on the situation or circumstances of a given
issue there may be many equally valid or even good perspectives, but
there are also likely to be some that are bad or even harmful. A
maladaptive perspective is one that can span a range of possible
less-than-desirable positions on a given range of subjects. A
maladaptive perspective may prevent one from enjoying something that
would otherwise be enjoyable, or it may cause a person to needlessly
avoid something. It could also lead a person to take a destructive
position against something that is not truly deserving of it. But,
perhaps worst of all, it could lead one to take a lazy or uncaring, or
even protective, position toward some issue that may truly deserve to
be destroyed.
One should be concerned about whether
one's perspective is maladaptive or not. When one has a maladaptive
perspective, one may not be aware of it, but if one is, it's best to
change one's perspective. A person should be ready and willing to
change his/her point-of-view when it is best to do so. The maladaptive
perspective is something that may well permanently vex humanity, but
wherever it is found it should be adjusted, corrected or eliminated as
needed or warranted. The maladaptive perspective is, after all,
unhealthy and unwise.
In a way, a good perspective is seeing
the proverbial forest for the trees. While a bad perspective is not
seeing the forest for the trees. That is to say that a good
point-of-view will have one seeing the aspects of the situation at hand
that one might otherwise overlook. Consider, for example, my
grandmother wants to fly to a city across the nation, but she dislikes
the idea of the extra time it takes now because of the enhanced
security at the airports. Instead of focusing on the inconvenience of
the extra security, she could also consider the fact that the greater
the efforts are to ensure security the safer she may be in her journey.
In a point-of-view that ignores the greater safety of extra security
measures one only really considers the negative effect. But, in a good
perspective one also considers the benefit, the positive effect, of
being more safe on that airplane. One may still wish it didn't take as
long, but one would likely also be a little more patient and tolerant
and understanding.
In deed, one's point-of-view greatly
influences how, and to what degree, one's mood is affected by a given
situation or circumstance. It comes down to attitude. Pessimists will
tend to have negative attitudes, and thus more often negative or even
dismal perspectives. And optimists tend to have positive attitudes and
therefore more frequently positive, or up-beat perspectives. In either
case the extreme ends of the spectrum can have some dangerous or
undesirable consequences. There is a middle-ground however. It is a
broad middle-ground, full of various positions that one could take on a
given issue which may not necessarily contradict a different position
on a different issue. Ultimately, the world is indeed what you make of
it.
Copyright © 2011 by Joshua
Michail
All
Rights Reserved.
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