My Super-Charged Life

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We all need the proper perspective to achieve excellence in our lives.  We need to look at the big picture.  This is often difficult because we seldom take the time to step back from our daily activities to reflect and observe our life as a whole.  Our days are filled with busyness.   We get in a position where we can’t see the forest for the trees.  Our lives become cluttered with details to the point that we lose sight of what we really want.

Thinking about perspective while high in the clouds.

I started thinking about this when I was flying back from California this week.  I had a window seat and I was looking out over the vast desert and towering mountains down below.  I have always found the landscape fascinating from 35,000 feet.  I could see winding roads snaking through the brown, rugged mountains and tiny islands of civilization nestled in the green valleys.  I imagined myself lost and trying to find my way out of what sometimes appeared to be desolate, isolated surroundings.  From my vantage point in the plane, I could see that a home, community, or highway was just over the next ridge or just through a clump of trees.  However, if I was on the ground fighting for my survival, I would have never known.  I could have easily gone in the exact opposite direction and gotten even more deeply lost.

Situations in life can rob us of our perspective.

This is the way it seems in life as well.  We often get lost in our circumstances.  We get stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed by the immediate situation.  In this emotional state, we start contemplating our options.  We consider compromising our standards just to get out of the situation.  It’s weird how even one bad day can totally take the wind out of our sails and get us started in totally the wrong direction.  Yesterday we might have been gung-ho and completely committed to doing the right thing, but today someone criticized us or others are being difficult to get along with and suddenly we are ready to give up, throw in the towel and quit the fight.  We are ready to take off down an unproven and often dangerous shortcut.

The big picture helps to restore the proper perspective.

However, if we could just see over the next ridge, we would realize that we aren’t as lost as we sometimes feel.  We would know that the refuge and direction that we need aren’t far off.  We would know that good times and relief are just around the corner.  Hope and motivation would fill us because we would know exactly what to do to get to where we want to be.  We would have a renewed sense of energy because we would know that if we just hike a couple of miles in the right direction that we will reach our goal.  We would know that our hard work and dedication to excellence is going to pay off.

What to do to regain perspective and achieve excellence.

Are you feeling lost right now?  Is there a sense of desperation in your actions?  If so, then let’s use some suggestions that are helpful in a true survival situation for getting your life back on track and regaining your perspective:

1. Stop and gather your senses - Don’t panic!  You have to calm yourself down and take control of your emotions so you can formulate a sensible plan.  Get away from all the distractions and busyness for a day or at least a few hours.  In Are You Afraid of the Silence?, Cameron Schaefer states, “Noise has become for us at age 24 [or 44 :)] what a night light was at age 5.”  The noise keeps us from truly reflecting and thinking about the things of meaning in our lives.  We need to take some time in quiet and solitude to sort things out. 
2. Make a plan and chart a course - Write down what you really want. I want to live a life of integrity, loyalty, commitment, wealth, and achievement.  What do you want?  Write it down.  Committing what you want to paper is important.  You have to have a plan.  It helps us develop a vision in our minds that serves as a map.  You can’t get to where you want to go, if you haven’t chosen a destination.
3. Take an inventory of what you have - In a true survival situation, you need to conserve everything that you have to deal with whatever situation might arise.  All resources become vital.  You have more to rely upon than what you are counting right now.  Think about your positive qualities and past successes.  What skills, qualities, talents, or resources helped you achieve what you have so far in life?  How can you more effectively utilize those same strengths to achieve a positive outcome in the present situation?  Count your blessings!  Be thankful for all that you have.
4. Be patient - True survivors are often those that stay put, conserve their energy, and wait to be rescued.  They do not make rash decisions without considering the possible consequences.  We need to be patient.  Help is on the way!  Have you ever had a solution to a difficult problem come to you when you were sleeping or while playing with the kids at home?  Sometimes we just need to give our minds some time to work on the problem.  The problem solving capacity of our minds often performs better when we are consciously distracted.  Give yourself some time before doing something you might regret.  The answers will come.

Excellence and achievement comes to those with proper perspective.

Use these suggestions to calm down, refocus on the big picture, and formulate a sensible plan before moving forward.  This kind of perspective can help you to avoid making a big and costly mistake.  Remember, some mistakes are irreversible and can cause irreparable damage to your reputation and relationships.  Heading in the right direction is more likely when you have followed these suggestions.

Photos by rla579 and tricky ™

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