Perspective is about how we choose to view things, and it is fundamental in practical spirituality. Spiritual growth is about a conscious change in perspective. Perspective plays a role in defining spirituality and is itself a spiritual practice.
The role of perspective in spirituality is described in the title of the book A New Pair of Glasses written by an early member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Recovery (i.e., spiritual growth) is simply a matter of changing perspective; it is about consciously choosing to see things differently.
When we choose to change the way we look at things
those things we choose to look at change.
Those “things” I choose to see differently are others, life situations and myself. Perspective is grounded in how I choose to see myself. This sounds self-centered, but perspective starts with me. For example, do I consider myself to be an innocent and powerful child of my Creator or do I see myself as His weak enemy? At my core am I great or am I evil?
The perspective we choose reveals our core beliefs about ourselves, our Creator and our relationship with Him or Her.
Our light, our attention, is how we choose to see things. Shared light means sharing perspective with another. It is by shared light that we transcend issues that lie between us. This is how we rise above them. It is by our shared light that we transform issues or challenges into gifts and blessings, or at least into new insights. And new insights are gifts.
It’s all simply a matter of perspective.
Perspective is what the 2-Slide MethodologyTM is about.
It is about shared perspective or, in other words, the perspective of the collective. It is about bridging the chasm between organizations by seeing from the other’s perspective. And it is about sharing perspective in order to see previously unforeseen value-creating opportunities.
I know my perspective needs to change when I have lost peace. In a relationship this occurs when I perceive the behavior of the other as a sign of deviousness, incompetency or lunacy. I can then ask God (or the Universe or the spirit within), “Help me change how I see this person or this situation so that my peace can be restored.”
Peace seems to be associated with truth. When I choose to see things more clearly I seem to see more truly, I am then able to more clearly see the truth in a situation. And I see a situation more clearly after I have considered the perspective of another. We are drawn closer to the truth that lies between us after we have seen things from each other’s perspective.
I draw closer to the other and I seem to end up drawing closer to God when I see more clearly. We learn and grow when we are willing to consider another’s perspective. We do not have to accept it. We just have to consider it.
This is how we grow as alliance managers. We are expected to be able to clearly and powerfully articulate the perspective of each company to the other company. This is how we stay in the midst, in the between, in the alliance. Growth causes us to consider a different perspective on our role or identity – how we choose to perceive ourselves.
Be forewarned. Do not disparage another’s perspective. Otherwise, they will stop sharing it with you. Their light will be obscured from your view, and you will have a shadow in that relationship. Beyond casting a shadow in that relationship, your disparaging thoughts toward another will obscure your own light from yourself, too. This will happen whether or not you share that disparagement with them, and whether or not they are in your actual presence. This is due to oneness – disparage another and you are in fact disparaging yourself.
Disparaging thoughts obscures light.
Ultimately, the perspective we choose is the result of personal identity, and choosing a higher perspective leads us to a greater or grander identity. Perspective is both cause and effect; therefore, perspective is fundamental. This is a primary mechanism for the deepening of our relationships. By considering another’s perspective, by sharing perspective with another, we collectively achieve a higher-perspective.
To me, a practical way for me to see God is in the act of making perspective a conscious choice. I draw closer to another, and I seem to draw closer to God, by consciously choosing perspective, seeking to see things from another’s perspective, and honestly and lovingly sharing my perspective with another. It is by honestly sharing our perspectives with one another that we actually bridge the chasm between us. My vision gets refined and I see things from a higher perspective when I honestly share perspective with another.
As I see it, I see God when I choose to see like God.