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“Our perspective is not determined by what we see.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2017-03-07) from his book, No Limits: Blow the CAP Off Your Capacity (p. 206). Center Street. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Perspective can make such a difference.  It really can.  But where does it come from?  How do we get it?

John says, “It’s determined by how we see, and that comes from who we are. Two people can be in the same situation and see things completely differently. While a scarcity person often looks at a situation and thinks, There’s no way! an abundance person sees the same things and thinks, There’s got to be a better way!

He goes on, “The world is a better place as a result of people whose perspective was shaped by abundance thinking. People thought there was no way to get a room warm other than by using a fireplace. Benjamin Franklin thought there was a better way and invented what we call the Franklin stove. People thought there was no way to get anywhere fast on land except by using horses. James Watt thought there had to be a better way and invented the steam engine. People thought there was no way to talk to people miles away from them. Alexander Graham Bell thought there had to be a better way and invented the telephone. People thought there was no way for people to fly under power. The Wright Brothers thought there had to be a better way and invented the first powered, motorized airplane.

“Do I need to go on? Change your perspective to one of abundance from one of scarcity, and you open the door to innovation and positive change, not only for yourself but also for others.”

We lived in a very small place about 30 minutes from Margaret’s work.  I am retired so I have become Margaret, my wife’s Uber driver and I wasn’t sure I wanted to add time to our travel.  My perspective was that it would be a negative.  But we started looking and found a place that was larger and closer to our son and his family so we moved.  Yes, the trip is longer but Margaret and I are together in the car and we love where we live and we love being close to our kids.  And the time goes fast even though it is about an hour longer each day.  Our perspective changed.  We made the right decision.


So, where do you need to change?
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