Change Your Perspective to Change Your Life

Recently, one of our church leaders gave a talk that really stuck with me. He told the story about growing up on a beautiful ranch and remembered the glorious views of the mountains from his front room. As an adult, he went back to the ranch to visit his dad and discovered an electrical tower stand had been built on the ranch, obscuring the view of the mountains from the front room.

He was frustrated, but when he expressed his frustrations, his dad brought in another perspective. He told his son that tower was a beautiful sight. It meant after decades of living on the ranch, they finally had lights in their home. It meant they had a washing machine to wash clothes and a dishwasher to wash dishes. That seemingly ugly tower represented something beautiful to this man.

This week I was on a hike and I saw a beautiful sight. The foothills near my home are my second favorite view (because you can’t really compete with the Teton Mountains of Wyoming). I get to see them daily and when I go for hikes, I get to see them up close. But when I saw this view, I immediatly thought of this talk.

I was thankful for this perspective because I’m sure my natural response would be to complain that this beautiful sight was marred by the ugly telephone pole. So what does this pole represent? It represents the ability to talk to family, to do business, to call someone in an emergency, etc.

So, of course, because I was surrounded by the beautiful Colorado nature, I turned pensive and started to think about what other “ugly” things in my life have beauty.

Because I live in a place that gets cold and snowy, summer is road construction season. And since I have road rage, I get so angry with construction. But what does it represent? It represents safe roads. It represents my ability to drive places quickly so I can do more with my life.

To me, hearing the diswasher beep letting me know the cycle is done is a terrible noise, because it means I have to empty the dishwasher. But this represents the fact that I don’t have to wash every dish by hand, which is way worse than having to empty a dishwasher.

This can be said for most my chores. I hate cleaning bathrooms but am thankful I have a bathroom to use. I hate folding laundry but I’m thankful I don’t have to wash my clothes on a rock in a stream. I hate cleaning my floors but I’m thankful I have wood floors and not packed dirt.

So now my challenge to you is to look at the things that are hard about your life and find the blessing.

I have a bad back, but I can still move, bend, run, and deadlift.

I have bad eyes, but I have contacts and glasses that allow me to see.

I feel overwhelmed with all I have to do, but I’m so thankful to have a family that needs and loves me.

So change your perspective. See the beauty in the ugly and life will begin to be beautiful every day.