Perspective. It’s something that seems so incredibly easy to attain, yet we always find ourselves struggling to really, truly gain it. We feel that fighting fire with fire with someone will make them see the world the way we see it. It will make them understand us. The way we think. The way we feel. What makes us smile, what makes us laugh. What makes us cry, what makes us happy. Perspective will allow us to see the light in each other’s eyes and we’ll all be existing with this sincere, mutual understanding of each other full of appreciation, respect, and empathy, no matter our pasts.
In a perfect world, that would be ideal. In a perfect world, everyone would get along. We wouldn’t judge each other or disrespect each other. We wouldn’t intentionally want to hurt others who have hurt us just because we want them to feel our pain. We would all exist with a complete and mutual understanding of each other. No judgment. No hatred. No more fighting fire with fire.
But…wait, this isn’t a perfect world, is it? It’s a world full of perfectly imperfect people who are so quick to fight fire with fire. So incredibly quick to criticize and judge, yet so slow to even attempt to understand. Far too quick to speak and certainly too slow to listen.
I think that sometimes it’s difficult to try and view yourself and your struggles through the eyes of someone else. Just like its hard to see other people with their struggles and attempt to understand it all for yourself. I’m guilty of this. I think we all are, but I think it takes an incredibly strong person to take a step back and re-evaluate their own lives in order to figure out what they can do to better themselves. Not everyone is capable of doing such a thing. So, if you’re one of the rare people who can do so, then consider yourself very lucky. I know I do.
With that being said…have you ever wondered what it would be like if you could meet yourself from a stranger’s perspective? What would be your first impression? Would you like you? Would you find certain things about yourself that you love? What about things that maybe you’d like to change? Would you sit there and criticize yourself for how you look or what you say? What about what you wear? Would you want to get to know you? Or would you quickly turn your shoulder and look the other way? Would you run as fast as you could from yourself? Or would you be willing to give yourself a chance to learn a little bit more?
This is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I know it may seem weird, but I think it’s a good tool to use to re-evaluate yourself and every aspect of your life. We could all use a little fine-tuning every now and then, don’t you think? So when you use this “let me see myself from a stranger’s point of view” tool, you really get a chance to dig real deep and do some serious soul searching. You give yourself the opportunity to see yourself from someone else’s perspective. They may think that you’re just flat out beautiful and perfect in every way possible. Hopefully, you’ll be able to see yourself this way, as well. Then, you can use what you learn and possibly help others to do the same. Who knows what you’ll find out? Chances are you’ll probably surprise yourself. You may notice a difference in how you react to certain situations. You may realize you need to change your mindset and attitude toward different things. Maybe instead of lashing out when you’re angry, you may realize that you need to tone it down a bit and react in a more civilized manner. Maybe instead of constantly criticizing yourself, you’ll learn to truly love and embrace yourself. Once you get in tune and in love with yourself, then maybe you’ll be able to view others differently with an open mind and a kind heart. Maybe you’ll be able to see the good in them, and you’ll seek to understand them. You’ll want to accept them for exactly who they are. You won’t want to change them or force them to change themselves for you.
Because the truth about life is this: we all just want to love and to have someone to love us back. We all just want to be treated by others how we would treat them. We all just want to be accepted for who we are. We all just want to be truly and blissfully happy.
So why on earth do we constantly do everything in our power to fight all of those amazing things? Because we’re human, and we all have our own ways of coping with things. Some of us are scared. Maybe too scared to face our fears. Some of us are perfectly content with the lives we’re living, and possibly incapable of believing that life could offer us something more. I think the thing that scares us the most is the fact that we’re so afraid and intimidated by the things that we don’t understand. And that is where we need to become a little bit more brave. The sooner we understand that we won’t always see eye to eye with everyone we meet, the better off we’ll be. But, we also need to be okay with the fact that our opinions won’t always be right. Our arguments won’t always be valid. Our truths won’t always be the real truth. We need to accept the fact that people won’t always see the world from our eyes. But maybe, just maybe, that acceptance is the key to perspective. The key to that sincere, mutual understanding of each other full of appreciation, respect, and empathy.
Maybe I’m too much of an optimist for thinking that this could actually happen. I tend to be a very wishful thinker. But, I do believe that we all deserve a chance to be respected and appreciated for exactly who we are.
We all deserve to be understood. We all deserve to be loved.
And, well…that’s really all that matters.
La Bella Vita 