by Janet
Shlaes, Ph.D.
“The voyage
of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
~ Marcel
Proust
Most data is
neutral and yet your rarely experience the facts of your life impersonally. Your
perspective directly impacts the meaning you attribute to life events and
interactions and your feelings elicited by them. A change in perspective won’t
change the facts, however, it can change your relationship over time to the
facts. Some attribute this shift in meaning to maturity, wisdom or even divine
intervention. I attribute the shift to an expansion in your field of meaning. A
powerful exercise that I often utilize with clients is derived from the fields
of Positive Psychology and Narrative Therapy; it incorporates taking on several
perspectives around a challenging interpersonal life event. Think about a
challenging experience or interaction; it might be a lifecycle event, a random
encounter or a disagreement with someone you are close to. Narrate the
experience from multiple perspectives – from each participant’s point of view
and from the point of view of a neutral observer. What people usually find is that through the
telling of the narrative from multiple perspectives, their meaning and
emotional attachment to the experience shifts over time. The facts are still
the facts, but a shift in perspective results in a gradual shift in meaning and
emotional impact.
Janet
For addition insights
and observations, check out the following posts:
Courage Revisited
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