The Magic of Perspective

Autumn is beautiful

"I doubt myself a lot." It almost hurts me to hear someone say that. Something I've learned in the last year is that life is all about the lens you look through when enjoying it.

You could doubt yourself, or you could question yourself. Kanye West, in his short but insightful book, Thank You and You're Welcome, says something like this:

I question anyone who questions me, but I question myself all the time!

Doubting yourself is acknowledging your flaws to an extent and telling yourself there's nothing you can do. Questioning yourself opens the doors to "What can I do about it? How can I improve? Where do I go from here?"

You could struggle, or you could welcome new challenges. When you view something as a struggle, there's very little opportunity to move forward. It's hard to march on with a smile. I can't stand struggles, but I lovingly welcome challenges. They give me something to look forward to, something to live for, really. Dhrumil phrases it well in his essay, "Struggle vs. Challenge: My Road to Completion":

A challenge may not be easy, but it can be joyful. A challenge is something that can be embraced even from the begin of the journey. A challenge, while it can be difficult, does not include the added dimension of resistance.

A struggle is being in once place and needing to be in another. A struggle is not only difficult, but it is a burden. A struggle is a challenge that is filled with resistance. A struggle is no fun at all.

How do you know where your journey stands? All you need to do is simply ask yourself, "Am I complete where I am?"

One of the greatest gifts that I've been given is the gift of completion. It didn't start that way and I've had many bumps in the road, but now that I discovered it, I want to help others discover it too.

Challenges are beautiful things.

I'm pumpkin carving this week! Haven't done it since elementary school =)

You could have bad experiences, or you could have learning experiences. So often I witness complainers talking about how terrible a night, a relationship, an experience of any sort was. I hate using this word, but I can't help but pity them. Something I love doing is finding the light in the darkest of situations. There are some occasions when it's harder than others, but when it clicks, it's a lot more gratifying than incessantly complaining. I can't really think of any essay or book that cites something completely relevant, but I know Kanye wrote something like,

Never complain without offering a solution! You rarely see positive results from people who do nothing but complain. The majority of the time, complainers seek only to be heard with no solution in mind. Once heard, they're off to find something else to complain about.

It's all about perspective. Open your eyes a bit to see the learning experiences, to welcome challenges, to question yourself! You'll see nothing but self-growth, and there's nothing like the sense of achievement you get from seeing yourself grow.

Be fresh(-minded),
Ankit

P.S. A way I've tracked my self-growth has been through this blog. Occasionally I track back by checking out my archives, and the change in mindset and the increase openness to new ideas and points-of-view are totally evident. Try blogging and see if it works for you.