Recently, I went on a trip to Spain with two of my lovely artist friends, Jacquie Herron and Karen Walker. I like the aisle seat for long flights for accessibility reasons at my advanced age. Karen loves the window seat. On one of our flights, Karen captured a great photo of the sun just below the horizon. I used Karen’s photo as inspiration for the painting attached. It’s not an angle that you get to observe a sunrise from very often. The clean graphic quality of the photo captured my attention. The glow in the sky and the reflection off of the edge of the wing create a very balanced abstract image.
In life we are sometimes faced with unusual situations, some pleasant and some unpleasant that can dominate our time and tax our energy. Looking at the situation from a distance or a different angle can change how we perceive what is happening. Perception is extremely important when trying to work through a personal situation. Like an astronaut viewing the earth from outer space, our perception changes dramatically when we can distance ourselves from the situation. Suddenly, something that was a challenge looks less so. In effect, we need to step out of the situation and look at it as if were happening to someone else. Not an easy thing to do but very helpful if you can manage it.
Emotions sometimes get in the way of finding peaceful solutions to conflict. Your perception of the situation can change dramatically if you try to see it from a distance or even put yourself into the other person’s shoes. If this were happening to a friend, what advice would you give them? Looking at things impartially can make all the difference and to do that you need to step away emotionally. Take a deep breath, count to a zillion and try and look at it from a different angle.
Another helpful tool when faced with a challenge is to ask yourself how much it is going to matter in 10 days, 10 months, or 10 years. The answer to that is usually that it won’t matter at all. Our daily lives are full of choices. How we perceive those choices can make or break how happy we are going forward. You can’t hop on a plane or a spaceship to change your point of view but you can use your intellect to help you look at things from a different perspective. The next time you are faced with a challenge, instead of letting your emotions take over try changing your perspective. Solutions will come to you more easily and your days will be a lot more pleasant.
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