The question I want to address today is What's your perspective?
Too often, we get overwhelmed by what is going on in our life, the feelings of fear, anxiety, depression or insecurity blind us from being able to see clearly. These emotions can magnify a small problem or situation into one that seems insurmountable or impossible to get beyond.
I have discovered that when I get stuck in those perspectives, it hinders me from making rational decisions and being able to see objectively.
One of my favourite things to do as a mentor is to help those I am working with see things from a different perspective. I call it re-framing! What if the way we thought about things changed? Would our outcomes change and the amount of time we wasted sorting through the negative emotions?
Let's talk about fear for a minute. A good acronym for fear is FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL. How many times have the things you have been fearful of, either never happened or when they did happen the outcome and consequences were much less than we anticipated. Our minds have a way of always going to the worst-case scenario and then magnify it. Sometimes in these moments I even allow myself to think of the worst-case scenario and then devise a plan of what I would do in that situation. That way if the worst thing happened not only am I prepared but I will know exactly what next steps I would take. Although, I would say that 95% of the time what I was expecting never happened. The things I feared never took place. Let's assume for a moment the same would be for you. What if 95 % of the things you fear never happened? How would that change your perspective? Would it change what you focused your time and attention on? What if you chose to embrace life one moment at a time, and handle the moments as they come, not worrying about what the future may bring? This is a very liberating way of living.
The next one I want to address is anxiety! Did you know that anxiety and excitement have the same physiological response in the body. What if when you felt anxiety you acknowledged it but then found a way to change your thoughts from dreading something to being excited about it? Instead of expending your emotions on why it will be a bad thing, focus on the reasons it will be amazing. The Bible tells us to keep our minds focused on what is good, lovely, admirable, and excellent. We were never meant to focus on what is bad. What we focus on and aim our attention on we create in our life. In one way it becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy. What do you want to create in your life? Those are the things you need to be training your mind to focus on.
Depression is one of those debilitating emotions that if we give into it we will be paralyzed from moving forward. Depression tells us that there is no hope for our future. There is no way out of the situations we find ourselves in. It impacts us emotionally, physically and spiritually. What if you recognized that thought as a lie, instead of partnering with it? What if you chose to see things differently? One example is if you were laid off from a job, instead of believing that you will never find another job, that you were not good enough and that no one else will want to hire you. What if your perspective was that when one door closes a better one always opens to you? You get to choose your next adventure, what would you choose? It's not the end it is just the beginning of something better.
Insecurity is also a very deceptive emotion. It causes you to look internally and believe that something is wrong with you. It causes you to believe that you are not good enough. What if you realized that being your authentic self was the best thing you could do? If you lived that way without apology you would attract people and opportunities that fuel you instead of trying to fit someone else's expectation. You may be a square trying to fit into a circle mould. You will always feel insecure if you are not pursuing things that you were designed and created for. When I choose to be my authentic self, that is when I am most content, feel freedom and am able to live my life to the fullest. I am not living to prove myself to anyone. I choose my best life and I get to live it with excitement!
In every situation you will face you get a choice of what perspective you look at it with. Are you looking through lenses that taint everything with negativity or do you choose to see the good, positive and hopeful side of things? I dare you to choose to SHIFT your PERSPECTIVES. Look at things with a new set of lenses and choose what your next steps will be. Become an expert RE-FRAMER. When your mind defaults to negativity re-train it to look at the positive!
Phillipians 4:6-8
"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your heart and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me- everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you." (NLT)
Our next webinar is coming up on Thursday, September 5th from 7-8
pm on Zoom. There is an optional discussion time afterwards from 8-9 pm.
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