Happiness and Perspective
Perspective is sometimes said to be more valuable than money. Manipulating your perspective consciously is an exciting exercise that is worth your time and effort. One of the best stories about perspective is an old Chinese tale about a farmer and his only son. One day, during a walk in the fields, a farmer found a wild horse. He was able to capture it and eventually train it. He felt very lucky. A few weeks later, his only son tried riding the horse but fell off and broke a leg. The farmer said, “Oh, how unlucky. This horse brings misfortune.” A few days later, a band of soldiers came to his house and demanded that his son join the military service. But seeing that he had a broken leg, the soldiers decided to leave him alone. The farmer said, “Oh, how lucky I am because if you go to war and die, then there will be no one to inherit our family name.”
The reason why perspective works is that the facts of reality are value neutral. That is, no fact, say a hammer, can be described as inherently good. A hammer can be bad; it can be used as a weapon. Looking at an objective fact is like looking at a gemstone. If you look at the gemstone from many different perspectives, you will get a many different visual images because of how the light is internally reflected and refracted. As positive thinkers, we can use the power of perspective to bring us happiness.
Using the power of perspective we can argue that, no matter what the situation, what actually happens is perfect. We can say that the situation is not only perfect, but that it also makes us happy. There are literally an infinite number of stories that you can tell about any fact or a set of facts; some negative and some positive. The positive thinker primarily formulates stories that are either neutral or positive.
How do you change your perspective? There are at least two ways, 1) the method of vocabulary and 2) the method of contrast.
Here is an example of the method of vocabulary. The method of vocabulary uses positive keywords and creative storytelling. Imagine a situation where you have a car accident, your vehicle is totaled and you do not have enough money to buy a new one. Say any random keyword, for instance “Terrific,” then proceed to brainstorm how losing your car is terrific. Repeat the sentence stem “Not having a car is terrific because…” and then proceed to brainstorm. Come up with as many answers as possible, at least a few answers will stick and be true for you. Focus on the positive answers that stand-up to logical scrutiny. These might be, “I can ride my bike to work,” “I will save money on transportation costs” or “By taking the bus to work I will take a path though the city that I have been meaning to visit but haven’t had the chance.”
Here is an example of the method of contrast. As a child you might have complained to your parents that you did not get a shiny new dirt bike for your birthday – contrast that with the starvation and illness of children in a drought-ravaged Africa. Suddenly, you are reminded of just how fortunate you are to live in a real house with running water. The method of contrast is an especially effective method to generate a change in perspective.
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Related Posts:
- Experimental Cheerfulness Article
- Happiness and Courage Article
- Why We Choose Unhappiness Article
- Happiness and Choices
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December 16th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
With regards to the method of contrast, I also believe it could also be called or related to the method of scope. I often tell people who are upset or sad about a particular situation, to open up their view or perspective to widen their scope of how they are viewing a particular situation. i.e. look at the big picture or compare in retrospect to previous life experience. I have found that marine corp. boot camp has served me well as a retrospective tool.