“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” 

                Wayne Dyer

Do you live in a friendly or a hostile universe?  Wayne Dyer asks this question to make the point that we look at the world through the lens of what is going on inside of each of us. If we see the world as a hostile world, then that is what we will see. It is what is on the inside of us, our thoughts and beliefs, that often provide the lens of how we see the world. For instance, if we have a belief that we can’t trust other people, then when something happens, and another person lets us down, we can use it to reinforce the belief that people are not trustworthy. However, we could take the same event and realize that whatever the other person did was about his/her own beliefs and experiences and the act had nothing to do with us, nor was it targeted towards us --same action, but different rationale in our own mind.  Do you reinforce a friendly or hostile universe?

Everyone has different perspectives and different ways of looking at a situation. Once we put meaning on something, we go to relationship with our thoughts and what is going on “inside of us”.  If we can acknowledge that our way of seeing something is only our way, perhaps we can put the act of defining the situation aside and just be in the moment. This may allow for openness and another perspective to come to mind. This makes our thoughts and beliefs merely our thoughts and beliefs. And it allows us to be open to other people and the perspective they come from.  We don’t have to have the world conform to our way – our thoughts and beliefs – we can just be in the moment and allow our self the opportunity to be open to whatever might come our way during that moment. 

This week take on the observer role.  Watch your thoughts and how you define situations.  Make a conscientious decision to put the thoughts and conclusions on hold.  Just allow the moments to happen without judgment. See what else might come from your moments when you look at it with clear lenses. With these steps you may find you see life from a very different perspective.  “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”