Perspective is a pretty fascinating concept. Considering how it is essentially entirely subjective in nature as we all tend to interpret things slightly differently, perspective is something we are all familiar with but may not give much thought to.
A couple of evenings ago, I was having a bit of a rough moment. I was venting to my sister about how I was feeling, and as I was pretty upset, the conversation became quite emotional. We discussed the issue at hand from my own perspective, and while my sister agreed with what I was saying, she encouraged me to perceive the scenario from the other person involved’s viewpoint. Had she not done this, I likely would not have realized how one issue can be interpreted entirely differently from whoever is involved, and I thanked her for allowing me to consider things from a different angle.
I think a lot of us struggle with trying to see something from a different view. And, really, it’s understandable. We as humans don’t necessarily enjoy being told that we could potentially be at fault and that perhaps we misinterpreted a situation, but, really, we need to accept it. If we are unable to consider something from a different position, chances are we won’t be able to associate ourselves with much conflict resolution as we will always believe ourselves to be in the right.
It is challenging to try and shift our focus to accommodate the thoughts and opinions of others, but it is a very valuable skill to be able to put into practice. Think about how much conflict stems from miscommunication and misunderstanding; having the ability to change our outlook towards an issue could potentially aid in helping to reduce these occurrences.
Being mindful of different perspectives is a valuable tool in life more of us could benefit from practicing. With some work and effort, we could all become better people as a result.
ontheedgeofeverything 