Lately, I have been playing with shifting my perspective, asking different questions and then seeing if I get different answers. Instead of focusing on what I can control, I have been asking the Universe to show me different points of view and then wait to see what comes up without expectation.
Playing with my perspective feels like dancing. Like dancing, you cannot control it.
While I’m an eternal optimist at heart, I have found that one of the keys to shifting perspective is the willingness to acknowledge all possible outcomes – even those that don’t feel positive.
When we don’t acknowledge the things that we don’t want to look at, we limit our ability to shift perspectives and miss out on opportunities for growth.
Like millions of others around the world, I lost my job due to COVID. While I could appreciate the silver linings in the layoff, until recently, I could not FULLY see and embrace all that I gained by losing one of the things that I thought was most important.
In our attainment-driven society, WORK often gets confused for WORTH. That is a really easy trap to buy into.
Work is tangible. Worth is immeasurable.
The truth is, work was filling voids that it wasn’t made to fill. Just like a romantic partner cannot meet all of your needs, there is no way that a job can encompass all parts of your identity. But part of me still had that expectation.
I had to lose “everything” to gain what truly matters. Making a list of what I’ve gained and lost over the past nine months has helped me to not only have a new perspective on this year, but has also given me a deep sense of gratitude that I didn’t have before.
As it turns out, what I gained is SO MUCH GREATER than what I lost. What I lost is temporary. What I gained, I will have for a lifetime and not only benefits me, but everyone around me. 2020 hasn’t always been pretty, and yet, it has been everything I needed.
Shifting my perspective has freed me up to shift my focus away from what I lost and onto all that I have gained.
Now THAT is the way to enter a new year!
Curious about my win loss statement? Check it out below or download the template and reframe your own story!
