Wisdom and Happiness

It is all a matter of perspective if you think about it, isn't it?

When it comes to experiencing life and other people — when life throws the good and the bad at you— what is really good or bad?

One thing that seems to show its ugly face to me might actually be a ray of light for you. We all have our own ways of seeing things.

So when it comes to human interactions there is no difference really. We might see a person as good or bad, we might feel blessed to have certain people coming into our lives, or we might ask ourselves why we had to meet a person when they bring hurt to us.

For many of us, the purpose of one single interaction becomes clear after the fact, when we can look back on a situation and see it with more open eyes, not being blinded by a blurry vision when standing in the middle of it all.

I believe that if we let ourselves use our ability— something we all are capable of — to see things and people from a different perspective, we will never stop learning or growing. Peace and joy will then enter our minds and fill our hearts.

There is so much wisdom we might miss if we are not open to the possibilities of life.

Changing perspective

Dr. Wayne Dyer once said:

"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

This is true for everything in life, including people.

I'm not exactly sure when my understanding of the power of perspective really began but I have learned that once we get to a point where we are tired of repeated situations — which we believe are often brought to us by other people — we oftentimes start craving another way of thinking and seeing life.

If we choose to do so we are doing ourselves a huge favor because it takes the power away from many of the storms that hit us. We can all see a situation in a different light and our perspective becomes a shield of protection — but in a good way.

There are different views on this, I'm sure. But what I have come to find is that people are either open to seeing things with an "extra pair of eyes" or not.

Which one is better?

And which one are you?

However, a different perspective only becomes visible to us once we are ready. We often think that life causes us to behave in a certain way which is why old patterns are usually difficult to break.

Yes, difficult, but not impossible.

Never impossible.

So while some believe that there is no meaning behind the things that happen our lives— and that the people who come into it have no purpose — I strongly want to argue otherwise.

I believe that the only time difficult interactions with others don't have meaning is when we simply don't let them have a meaning.

Therefore a cycle keeps repeating itself until we learn our lesson from that particular person or situation; something that only comes from us actually giving it a deeper thought. And deeper though it needs.

"Everyone you meet is a mirror"

Surely our fulfillment isn't something to take lightly because what else is there in life if we walk with no passion and no sense of real happiness in our lives?

This is how people in India describe the karmic cycle. We get reborn over and over until we finally learn our lessons and reach our ultimate state of being; after that, we are reborn no more.

Without going into much detail about karma in this piece, it is an accurate comparison to what happens in our lives and the things we experience.

So then how can we actually broaden our view with a different perspective to our own benefit and to the benefit of others?

When someone else hurts us it is the perfect time to learn

When I was in the middle of a mentally and emotionally abusive relationship, when many of my loved ones passed on, when I lost my apartment, when I lost many of my friends, and when life threw many other things at me, I can tell you with confidence (yet not confident about anything back then) that my perspective was blurry. It was all about what others did and in that sense, I completely gave my power away to other people.

Life was pulling the strings and I was the puppet in a show that was anything but entertaining and fun.

My eyes weren't seeing clearly and although there was a small part of me that knew that these things were happening for a reason, it took me years to figure out how to actually start believing in that fully.

Because in the middle of a painful storm, it is scary.

But like in the center of a tornado, spinning round and round with aggressive power, there is a calmness in the middle that isn't visible to the outsider observing it. Knowing this, the observer then has the choice to either focus on the outside or becoming aware of what is going on on the inside.

We are all observers.

There have been many people in my life who have entered to teach me something profound. That's not to say there has always been an intense meaning behind every interaction, but because my mind was closed off to the idea, even the small pieces of wisdom eluded me.

The other part I failed to see was that they too could and probably would somehow benefit from our meeting.

Shame, blame, hurt and suffering often entered my reality as I failed to see the meaning, open my eyes, and expand my mind a little bit wider. Still, there are no regrets because I became better at it with time.

By practicing awareness and having a deeper understanding of life — and why people do the things they do — life becomes much easier. Even if some of the things that others bring might be far from our own beliefs, that is okay.

In my case, my personal and later spiritual development has helped me a lot in this matter. I also understand that not everyone is keen to jump and it's not all an easy journey.

But if there is one thing that might be simple to grasp today, it is knowing that we can always choose a different perspective.

Where to go from here

Perspective is important and life is short. Everyone who enters into our lives is not meant to stay but we can learn many things from our human connections — if we let ourselves go a little and dig beyond the surface.

There is powerful knowledge and there are powerful lessons behind the scenes of the stage of just one perspective.

When you are interacting with others who might be a lot different from you — or when you find yourself in an unhealthy relationship — take a step back. Breathe deeply a few times and let your nonjudgmental and loving heart go to work.

Pull your mind into the game with you once it is calm and follow the heart's lead. Let them work together and shed more light on the situation.

Then, when you come across people in a conversation with different opinions, and different ways of being, you not only become more compassionate towards others but also do a great act of kindness towards yourself.

Life never shows up in just one color, does it? And neither do people.

So if that is true, are you ready to learn and see the beauty of all colors?

If you enjoyed this piece, make sure to follow me for more authentic and unfiltered articles on how you can step into becoming your true self. More joy and more happiness.

As always, with love,

Simona