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This is the eighth step of nine, on the path to happiness.

Step # 8 ) Keep An Open Mind And Expand Your Perspective

Is the world cruel or kind, painful or joyous, hostile or friendly, brutal or gentle, misery or bountiful?

Truth – It’s all of those things.

The world we live in contains all perspectives and evaluations. The key it to accept that at all times they are all present. That said, the challenge we face as human beings is to know we have a choice – all of the time. We can choose what to say – what to do and how to feel and when we accept this and know that all of these are within our control we have no need to control others to validate the beliefs that we unconsciously guided by.

We must accept that there is no right or wrong way to live life – neither optimism nor pessimism is a more accurate view of life. Neither is more realistic, but both are true. The key is to accept and understand that pessimism is no more realistic than optimism. Cold is no less real than hot. Dry is no less real than wet. They both exist. They are both real.

Elise sums it up nicely, “Our perception is our reality!”

You have a choice. Which will you focus on? Which will you give the most attention?
Again neither is right – neither is wrong – living life is merely a choice and that choice is always ours and because life will always be perfect balance, we will always have both both ends of the spectrum to chose from.

The following Cherokee tale expands upon our choice.

Two Wolves

A Cherokee warrior was telling his grandson about a fight that was going on inside of him. He said it was between 2 wolves.

One was evil and full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, fearful thinking, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other was good and full of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The Cherokee simply replied, “The one I feed.”

In life what we focus upon we will find and it will become our perception of the outside world. If we look for hatred in the world, we will find hatred. If we look for love in the world, we will find love. If we watch the news or doom and gloom documentaries, read books based upon what is wrong with our world – the world as we know it will feel like hell, but if we watch TV, movies, documentaries that have a positive outlook on life or read books that present a positive future the world we know will feel like heaven. The balance and choice is always there. If you have the need for pain – the choice is yours – if you have the need for happiness – the choice is yours.

When we change our perspective, we change our experience of the world. It’s simply a matter of intention and a choice as to which perspective we intend to focus on?

The optimism perspective allows you to…

Turn Disadvantages Into Advantages

Sometimes a little shift in perspective is all it takes to turn a disadvantage into an opportunity. When we feel closed in and helpless, it’s not because of some permanent external state, but more so it’s created from our limited perspective. Again our world is perfect balance and nothing can exist without it’s opposite and again you can’t have tall without short, skinny without fat, happy without sad.

Therefore you can’t have restriction without opportunity. If you can’t see the good in any given situation – just flip the coin over – it’s on the other side. It’s that simple. Don’t intellectualize life – live it.

Albert Einstein’s observation was that, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

It’s not a matter of if the opportunity or advantage is out there; it’s simply a matter of seeing it – and all it takes to see it is an expanded perspective and then a belief that it’s there. When you make a decision to see the good in people, places and things – the good begins to surface internally and externally.

That said – sometimes a little shift in perspective is all it takes to turn an opportunity into a disadvantage and if the victim role works for you by all means – enjoy!.