Perspective

Sometimes all that life requires is a change in perspective. This morning on my walk for some reason I didn’t really understand, I decided to walk on the opposite side of the street from the one I usually walk on. It was a difference of about 20 feet and yet what a difference it made!

I was amazed what I could see by changing my perspective only a little. Where before I had seen only a fence, now I saw over the fence into the beautiful gardens held within. Where before I saw only color, now I saw into the center of a daffodil that I had never seen before. Where before I had seen only gray sidewalks, now I saw expression as I read the carvings in them. Where before I had seen flowers, now I inhaled the scent of their joyous expression of life. Where before I saw steps and boards and a door, now I saw how welcoming and inviting a porch can look from across the street. I even got to smile at bumper stickers I hadn’t been able to read before.

Not only did I learn the joy of seeing something new by changing my perspective, I also had the joy of reconnecting with something familiar that I hadn’t seen in while. I walked along a wavy stone wall in my neighborhood that I hadn’t enjoyed the whimsy of in a long while because I had always walked on the same side of the street. Today I let my eyes flow along with its waves of gray and smiled as I felt myself rise and fall with the waves as I passed.

What a difference a change in perspective makes. I wonder what a difference it would make if we walked on the other side of the street of our views of others. What would happen if we stepped back 20 feet from a challenge in our lives and looked at it again?

If you wonder what difference a change in perspective can really make, just ask any artist (or walker) you know.