Perspective

OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

What do you see from the above letters?  Opportunity is now here, or opportunity is nowhere?

I was first shown the above letters in my university days.  I saw that “opportunity is nowhere”.  I was fascinated to discover that different individuals could perceive things differently and come up with completely different conclusions despite looking at exactly the same things.  I was inspired to learn to see opportunities rather than obstacles in my life.

How about you?  Do you tend to see opportunities or obstacles when facing new and unfamiliar situations in your life?

It is often said that we can change our life by changing our attitude.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to simply change our attitude.  It is often necessary to shift our worldview and belief, to view things from a different perspective in order to change our attitude. 

Situations are often neutral.  There are usually pros and cons in every decision.  Our beliefs and perceptions of a situation is what makes it either positive or negative for us.  For example, people who are overly anxious about public speaking often associate it with being judged compared to those who simply perceive it as a channel to present their ideas.

One time, I was walking down a relatively narrow corridor, with high walls and hand rails on each side.  The corridor probably only fit one and a half average person.  Whenever two people walked towards each other from the opposite direction, both had to turn sideways to allow two people to pass through.  As I was walking hastily, feeling claustrophobic by the high walls on both sides, an old small lady walked towards me from the opposite direction.  When we approached each other, I said to her, “It’s a very narrow corridor, isn’t it?”  She looked at me, and replied, “It’s a bit too wide for me, I have difficulty stretching both my arms to hold on to the handrails on each side.”  Oops, why didn’t I see it from her perspective?

Our perspective is often coloured by our past experience and present situation, which in turn affects our view of our present situation, and our hope and expectation for the future.  This is why two different individuals can perceive things differently when being put in the same situation.

Do you only see things from one perspective?  From your own perspective?  Often we need to step out from our own shell in order to see a different perspective.