My first class with ICA was on “perspective”. The teacher made the strong point that perspective is everything. And it is!
I’ve always been fascinated by people who seem to have a very positive perspective on their futures despite the fact that they came from extremely difficult backgrounds.
My best friend is one of them. Her father was an alcoholic, her mother, an enabler. I don’t know too many details about her life. I do know that she did spend a lot of time with her grandparents, who gave her some semblance of stability.
Throughout her life, she has always had a positive take on how things were going in her life. She seemed to have a strong sense of her inner strength and she always knew at some level that she had an excellent aesthetic sense and strong intellect. Initially, she followed her aesthetic nose into various pursuits – weaving, horticulture, design consulting – and later, she went to university and ultimately, got a Ph.D. in philosophy having discovered the code that is the underpinnings of Plato’s dialogues. Knowing that she was adopted, helped her to disassociate herself from her background. She was just always sure that things would turn out. She always worked to her Intent, now that is to become a tenured professor at a top university.
Another friend, one from the past, came from a family of modest means from Northern Ontario. Her mother died when my friend was age 9, and her father died when she was age 11. The group of children stayed together and raised themselves. When I knew her she was a top-notch account executive at a major bank, had just married an obstetrician-gynecologist and we both were pregnant together with our first borns – boys. We went sailing with them on their 40 foot yacht in the Florida Keys, and had to beat it into the harbour before Hurricane Floyd hit! She always was exceptionally positive and up for any new challenge.
Perspective is a matter of choice. If you are prone to the negative view, which I am, then it’s important to wrench yourself out of it, and look at all the things that you are grateful for. Gratitude seems to be an important element in changing your view. We, in the western world, have so much, after all. Here, on the west coast of Canada, nature presents itself in such stunning diversity, it’s beauty can pull you out of almost anything.
I think we all tend to put ourselves up against an impossible standard from time to time, judging ourselves badly, often not acknowledging all the incredible achievements that we have made. We think the other guy is doing so much better, but we never know the other’s true story.
Story again, I think, is important to maintaining a positive, life-affirming perspective. Tell your story in a positive way. Imagine your future in a positive way. Look at all the stories from ancient wisdom teachings – you’ll find out that we all go through long periods of being in the “belly of the whale” or stewing in the primordial soup inside the cocoon before becoming a butterfly.
I think habit also plays a big part in perspective. I think we all get into habits of viewing the world in a particular way. Habits are hard to overcome, but the fact is that if you keep an awareness of what you are thinking and what you are saying to others, and catch yourself everytime you are taking a habitual and negative stance on something, and get yourself to reframe your viewpoint, you will gradually break the habit. I have additional help in that everytime I start indulging in negative self-talk, or self-effacing behaviour, my 19 year-old daughter gets on my case and tells me to stop it. I taught her well.
Many, many years ago, I went to a weekend conference on ESP. We were all taught a meditation that seems to help change perspective at a subconcious level. Give it a try. Just memorize this and then instruct yourself through the paces.
Start by sitting quietly with your eyes closed. Take a couple of deep breaths to settle yourself.
Now imagine you are on top of a high cliff. Below is a beautiful lake. It is violet in colour. You jump off the cliff and release the parachute on your back. You swing down through the air. You imagine this experience with all your senses. You hear the air going by, smell it, feel it on your skin, taste it, see the lake coming closer etc.
You land in the lake. You release the parachute. You swim in the lake for a little while, again be aware with all your senses what the experience is like. You walk out of the lake and find yourself on top of another cliff.
You look down and there is an indigo lake. You jump, release a parachute that is on your back. Again, you experience all the sensations going down. When you get to the lake, you release the parachute, and swim in the lake for a bit…again be aware of the experience with all your senses.
You walk out of the lake and find yourself on the edge of another cliff, and you look down on a beautiful bright blue lake….you repeat what you did before…
and again, with a green lake, then a yellow lake, then an orange lake, then a red lake.
Once you come out of the red lake, you walk over to a tunnel that slopes downward into the ground. “There is a slide you can take. So ride the slide downward. When you get to the bottom, notice that there is a door, a beautiful door. You go into a room. It’s a lovely room with a fireplace, a desk with a computer on it, and a view onto a lovely landscape.
Sit down at the computer and call up pictures of yourself – as a happy you, a fit you, a smart you, a compassionate you. When you call up a picture, write what it is about below. “I am happy”, etc.
When you’ve done enough, just count to 10 and bring yourself back to normal consiousness.
I find this works really well for me, and I give this meditation as an act of goodwill. However, it is your choice to try it, and I can take no responsibilty if it does not work for you, or you feel it harms you in some way.
Sometimes I go into that room to meet someone wise….like my true inner self or…..
(You will notice that the pattern of colours are those of the rainbow – they are also the pattern of colours in the Indian chakra system.
the reverse of – ROYBGIV – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. In the chakra system, the root chakra is red, the sacral chakra is orange, the solar chakra is yellow, the heart chakra is green, the throat chakra is blue, the third eye chakra is indigo (or deep purple-blue) and the crown chakra is violet.)
Best to all,
Suzanna
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