Time to look at another of my quote images, and I’d love to hear your perspective on this one…
I took that photo of the Super Blood Moon back in September 2015. It’s lovely when the clouds play ball enough here in Britain to allow us to enjoy events like this, and even though it seemed touch and go for a while, the overnight session was well worth it.
As the moon began to rise, it certainly looked big, (hence the Super bit!) and I was looking forward to the eclipse that was to come.
I still don’t have good enough photo equipment to allow me to take ‘proper’ pictures at night, so I was making do with the zoom function on my video camera!
Even so, when the eclipse happened the redness of the moon (hence the Blood bit!) was certainly something to behold – wow!
I found myself being caught between trying to concentrate on getting the best image I could and being, quite frankly, captured and entranced by the sight.
I find that when I see something like this, I can’t help but be struck by the vastness of the universe. The scales of our tiny planet relating to everything else are stunning, and while it’s too easy to think that we are the centre of the universe, we’re not!
We’re not.
Since we’re not, this brings up the issue of perspective, which is the point I’m making in this article…
The concept of perspective can be looked at in a variety of ways – there might be many different dictionary definitions, but I like to think of it as a way of looking at things in relation to surroundings.
From the angle of self improvement and personal development, that means looking at ourselves, our own position when it comes to the way we live our life, the way we react to our surroundings.
If we think of our planet in the universe, the moon spinning around us, and the earth taking a whole year to spin around the sun, we get a perspective of the relentless nature of time. It’s not going to stop for anyone, not for me, and not for you.
With that being the case, what are you doing with the finite time *you* have? Would you say you were putting it to use, spending it moving forward in line with your passions, or would you say you were frittering it away, denying yourself your passions, to fit in with some kind of view of what you ‘should’ be doing?
If the honest answer, (and honesty is essential here), is that you are basically treading water with time, then the next question is a simple one, but one that has power to change your life…
Why?
The answer to that normally comes down to fear – fear of upsetting others, fear of it going wrong, fear of changing what you already know.
All of these fears can be dealt with, and it’s normally taking action that is at the centre of the solution. If we keep things in perspective, think of our tiny scale in the universe, we can cement the idea that it’s *our* self that we need to be looking for, not others.
Hang on though, am I saying that we should take an attitude of selfishness, disregarding anyone else in sole pursuit of our own wants..?
Ooh, no.
That’s not a good thing, and there too many people doing that as it is!
Since I make my point about perspective as one of considering our position in relation to our surroundings, that means other people.
The old adage about treating others as you’d wish to be treated yourself is never a bad one, so we should consider our perspective when dealing with others. Are we being kind and considering their needs, their life, their own perspective, or are we trying to impose our own perspective onto them.
Would we like that if they did it to us? No, so why would we be doing that to others?
Keep things in perspective.
When it comes to how others treat us, it’s possible that they are the ones trying to impose their will, that they are paying no consideration to our own wishes and needs. If that’s the case, the answer lies in, yes you guessed it, keeping things in perspective.
If the actions of someone else won’t matter you to in 10 weeks, or 10 days, or even 10 *minutes*, then keep that perspective as you react to those actions. If it won’t matter then, it doesn’t matter now.
If it most certainly will matter in 10 minutes, in 10 days, in 10 weeks and so on, then if you keep things in perspective, you can decide whether to accept it, or to make changes. That might mean changing the other person’s opinion, or it might mean removing yourself from that person and their actions.
Being bullied, intimidated or held back by others? They are things that will matter going forward, and action should be taken to deal with it.
Breaking a nail, or being cut up in traffic? They won’t matter going forward, so should be dealt with with keeping them in perspective.
Not always easy, I understand that, but it’s a decision and a route to follow that can come with perspective.
It’s often seen as glib to suggest that ‘others have it worse than us’, or that ‘others can only dream of the things you take for granted,’ and while it’s easy to see why phrases like that can come across as glib, that doesn’t necessarily make them any less true!
If you’re reading this, then you have access to the internet. That is what I call an abundance of opportunity the like of which we have not seen before. Not only are you right in the middle of that abundance, it genuinely isn’t an abundance that everyone in the world has.
Glib sounding or not, it’s a fact.
There are people in the world living in abject poverty barely able to survive.
There are people in the world living in terror for their lives everyday, not knowing if they’ll even be alive the next day.
Some people have lives that are almost beyond our imagination, but if we *do* take the time and make the effort to remember them, we shouldn’t be moaning when we break a nail. We shouldn’t be moaning if someone calls us a name.
We shouldn’t be moaning about the job we chose to take, and we choose to carry on doing. We shouldn’t be moaning about our choices that have led us to the here and now, because we have the option to make different choices.
So, a Super Blood Moon might only come around every now and again, but it gives a great opportunity to consider perspective. Take a look at your perspective, and if you think it might need changing, then change it!
To be honest, you can go out and look at a full moon once a month, and it really does have an impact – why not go out into the countryside, or somewhere quiet, where you can just stare at the moon, soak up the atmosphere of the darkness, the peace and quiet?
Thinking about that kind of spectacle and scale is one thing, and that’s great but seeing it for real really drives it home, because what does it help us to do..?
Keep things in perspective!
Ok, I’d love to hear what you think – do leave a comment!
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you’d like to take action in line with keeping things in perspective, then look at my free video series covering my 8 step goal achievement formula!
