Dale Carnegie
Life is all about perspective because the perspective we take determines our success and happiness in life. Two people can have nearly identical experiences but can have very different reactions or outlooks on the experience. And their contrasting outlooks are based on how they perceive the experience. If we choose wisely and take the right perspective in life, we will always succeed.
A few people have commented on my blog last week about perspective so I decided to write a follow-up blog on the topic today.
As chance would have it, while driving in my car on my way home from work a few days ago, I heard an interesting story on the radio that illustrates the power of perspective perfectly. This story was told by a nurse who worked many years in an intensive care unit at a busy hospital. She recounted a story of a very sick man who needed a heart transplant. His situation was dire and he didn’t have long to live without a compatible donor. The nursing team fretted over him and wondered if he would live another day but just in time, a suitable transplant became available. The nurse recalled the man’s surgery was a success however a short while after, the man’s health began to deteriorate again because his body was rejecting the “new” heart. The poor man was soon placed on life support again and his only hope of survival was to find another suitable heart donor quickly. A few days passed and despite the doctor’s prognosis, he miraculously continued to live. Finally, against all odds, a suitable new heart became available and a successful surgery was performed. This time his body accepted the new organ and he began to recuperate rapidly. Before long the man was able to eat again and the medical team began to believe that he would even be able to return home in time. The nurse stated that this man’s success story was what her nursing team lived for and they were thrilled that a person who had been given so little hope to survive was now doing so well! One day, as this nurse was walking by his room, she noticed the man was extremely angry and upset. The nurse quickly entered the room and saw he was furious. She assumed the worst—that perhaps he had been given some bad news by the doctor and she worried that her hope and excitement of his survival was maybe somehow misguided. As she questioned the man about what was wrong and if there was anything she could do to help, she learned his problem was cold oatmeal. The nurse concluded her story sharing the disbelief she felt when this man who had literally been given an unbelievable second chance at life a day or two earlier was now enraged over some cold oatmeal.
Life is perspective as shown in this story. How often are we like the man in the story? How often are we given so much but seem to only focus on the one or two minor things that are wrong in life? How often do we miss out on an otherwise amazing experience because we choose to dwell on something insignificant? How often do we take the wrong perspective and sour our own life?
The perspective we choose determines our happiness. Like the man in the story, we can dwell on the little negative things that surround us and we can even believe that others are out to get us, or we can see the good and marvelous blessing we have in life. Each of us is blessed in many ways if we choose to see it—and in every event or circumstance in life there can always be found a silver lining.
Life is about perspective. When we take control of our perspective, we take control of our life. And having the right perspective in every situation will lead us to success and happiness in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment