Perspective: A Point of View

I often use the analogy that gaining perspective means you must turn the beach ball to see other colors.  According to dictionary.com, one definition of perspective is: [t]he state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship.

We have a teenaged grandchild. She is typical in the sense that the world revolves around her needs, her community of friends is narrow and often fickle, her experiences, all of them, are generally catastrophic. She believes her life is rough because "she is being asked to care for her bedroom and do her laundry.” One might suggest that her perspective is narrow. Of course, it is. Her times circling the sun is few, and her risk brain is in overdrive with her developing reasoned brain just along for the bumpy ride.

Contrast my granddaughter with my recently celebrated 90-year-old Mother. For much of her life she, not unlike other mother’s, has juggled the greater needs of one child at the emotional expense of her other children. What’s this got to do with perspective? At a recent family event, my mother’s epiphany was bearing witness to what she had unintentionally missed with her other family members. She not only gained a new perspective, she used her new perspective to knit together the rest of her family.

In between these two perspectives – the beginning of adulthood and the life of experience, we have years of interactions, interrelationships, and no shortage of opinions coming at us, often 24-7. Who helps us with the examination of our perspectives to be clear about our thinking, our desires, our accountabilities and our outcomes?

In quiet moments, I often reflect on my decisions, some good, some not so good. I think about how a good coach might have helped me with my way of being, my thinking and most importantly, the examination of alternative perspectives.

Are you ready to take this journey and not wait for a new perspective to find you? If so, I look forward to hearing from you.

What new perspective do you want to bring to 2015?

Dr. Jan Bouch