Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Perspective is EVERYTHING

This horse understands the power of perspective!
Hard work. Tenacity. Discipline. Passion. Enthusiasm. Charisma. Commitment. Growth. Contribution. Power. Communication. Compassion.  These are all the traits that come to mind when I think of the most successful people in the world.  They ooze these traits.  They live these traits. They structure their lives with these traits as the backbone. They use these traits to get stuff done and inspire others to follow them.  From the most successful leaders of households to the most successful leaders of companies, each carries with them the ability to tap into each of these traits on a regular basis.  As powerful as this list is, I believe the most powerful one of all has been left out – perspective.  Perspective is the ability to create empowering language around any situation.  It is the ability to create empowering language around situations that are pleasurable as well as painful.  Many people are equally paralyzed by pleasurable situations as well as painful ones.  Most people, when confronted with a pleasurable situation such as a great period of time in business, work, relationships, or health, they take their foot off of the accelerator and ride the wave of accomplishment.  They become immobilized from action because they just want to enjoy the ride.  This inevitably leads to a crash and burn which most interpret as pain which then leads to disappointment.  The person then has to make a choice whether or not to swim back out past the break in the ocean and look for another wave to ride in or to admit defeat and sit idly on the coast being an observer in life rather than an active participant.  Everything we do; every choice we make; everything in life we experience is either painful or pleasurable, mobilizing or immobilizing, based on the language we create around the experience. 

Listen, I know we would all love to permanently cruise down the pristine coastline on a permanently exhilarating wave, but the reality is that we are going to crash and burn at times and it is the choices we make while riding the wave as well as when we crash and burn that determines the quality of life we are going to live.  Or you can choose to ride a long, sissy wave but what is the fun in that? LOL


Let’s take a look at this. We paddle to exhaustion past the break and catch this amazing wave.  We have a choice to ride the wave into shore and then create a new plan or create a much larger plan for life that includes riding the wave as a integral part of our life plan constantly evaluating and re-evaluating what made that ride successful or unsuccessful. We understand that crashing is a part of the ride and quicker we get back on the board the quicker we can get ready for the next wave.  Here is a real key to life.  Can you find adventure and fulfillment in the crash? Can you find adventure and fulfillment in the struggle to paddle out past the break? Can you find adventure and fulfillment in the solitude of sitting idly and waiting for the next wave to come?

Love,
Matt

2 comments:

  1. That was awesome. It is so true. Perspective changes everything. It changes how you react, how you speak, how you talk, how you move. It all depends on your objective. If you're aiming to GET to a certain place because that's where you're be happy or if it wasn't about the end and the objective, and the accomplishment, but the people all around.

    School can be hard, dreary, or boring, or it can be fun, joyful, FULL of learning- all, depending on how you perceive the experience. Love LOVE LOVE IT!! :)

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