How Changing your Perspective Changes Everything
Life is about perspective. If ranked, this is the most important of all the lessons I’ve learned. Simply changing your perspective changes everything.
Changing your perspective changes your attitude toward whatever life can throw at you. When all else fails to fix the problem, change your perspective.
In the grand scheme of things, we’re only among the living for a short time. Why do things that don’t bring you joy or aren’t fun? I’m continually amazed by people who hate their jobs, their lives, their significant others, their bodies, etc., but don’t make any effort to change their circumstances.
“There are things I can’t force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.” - Denis Diderot
If they’re unwilling to take the necessary steps, they should at least think about altering their perspective, so that whatever’s making them so miserable is seen with a fresh set of eyes.
From my perspective, I like to say I’ve never worked a day in my life. If you figure out a way to enjoy everything you do, then nothing feels like work. Winston Churchill said it this way: “Human beings are of two classes: those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure, and those whose work and pleasure are one.”
Lemons? Or Lemonade?
You’ve probably heard this century-old bit of wisdom about perspective: “If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.” Although it didn’t originate with him, the late Dale Carnegie, the well-known writer, lecturer and self- improvement guru, commented on it in his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. First published in 1946, the book is still in print today and sold in dozens of languages.
“The fool,” he wrote, “if he finds that life has handed him a lemon, he gives up and says: ‘I’m beaten. It is fate. I haven’t got a chance.’ Then he proceeds to rail against the world and indulge in an orgy of self-pity. But when the wise man is handed a lemon, he says: ‘What lesson can I learn from this misfortune? How can I improve my situation? How can I turn this lemon into lemonade?’”
The answer, of course, is by a change of perspective.
Finding Joy in the Journey
Have you ever picked up a wedge of lemon and bitten into it to try and quench your thirst? If so, you know the “cure” is often worse than the disease. On the other hand, an ice-cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer afternoon is among life’s pleasures.
The choice is yours—your journey through life can be fun. If it isn’t, change the route or change your perspective. I’m not sure I ever want to get to the destination. The struggle, the effort, the failures, the successes and the shared joy from the experience are what this is all about.
You alone have the power to change the course of your life. If you can’t, and many believe they can’t, at least change your perspective.
I don’t think I’ve worked a day in my life. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I walk out of the Emergency Department after hours of treating the sick or after having to fire a long-term physician and I think they couldn’t pay me enough to do these jobs. Thankfully, those days are few.
I’ve treated tens of thousands of patients. I’ve seen the look in the eyes of so many of them when they realize that everything they wanted to accomplish, everything they wanted to see, say, or do will be forever lost. The looks on their faces scream: “If only.”
There is nothing worse than seeing that look of defeat in the eyes of one of my patients and knowing that at that moment all they see is regret for the life they’ve lived.
You should be enjoying the hell out of this life. If you aren’t, change it!
Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed saying “if only, if only.” Don’t waste a second.
Perspective changes as we age. What was once very important is now less important. Try to remember that when you need a perspective injection.
