This Will Change Your Life.

“Everything is a matter of perspective.” That’s an overused phrase that’s generally said without much thought. It’s an easy go-to argument to end all arguments. Today, however, I’m going to show you why it’s one of the most important lessons you could ever learn…and yes, it will change your life if you use it properly.

Take a look at the image below. It’s a common optical illusion but it illustrates my point perfectly.

Do you see ‘good’ or do you see ‘evil?’ Actually you see both but when you look at it you can choose whether to see ‘good’ or to see ‘evil.’ It’s a conscious choice and it completely shapes what you see.

Now let’s apply this concept to a real life scenario. A devout Christian and a staunch atheist are having an argument about the existence of God (go figure). Reasons and rationalizations are exchanged but the argument is going absolutely no where. Both are rooted so strongly in their respective beliefs that they see evidence of them everyday. The devout sees every blessing in life as a sign of God’s existence. He may even hear God’s voice throughout his day and say to himself, “How could anyone not believe in God?” Meanwhile the atheist may not understand how God could allow so much suffering to go on in the world. He has attempted prayer before in his life but never expected it to work and — guess what — he never saw results.

The Christian chose to see ‘good’ (God) while the atheist chose to see ‘bad’ (not-God). Are you with me?

Here’s one more example just to be sure you get the message (remember this could change your life!). Your family somehow roped you into going on a week-long road trip  with them. An hour in, air conditioning in the car dies without reason — not a good sign for the rest of the trip. You have two potential ways of going about the rest of the trip:

1) Deciding that this trip SUCKS. The place you’re trekking to isn’t that exciting,  the landscape outside is repetitive to the point of nausea and oh geez, your father is already snoring. You’re miserable and by god you’re going to just hate every second of this trip. As the driving goes on, you find more and more reasons why you would rather be in hell than in that car.

2) Decide that this trip is going to be FANTASTIC. Now you have a ton of time to catch up on your reading, get to spend some time with your family (who won’t be around forever) and you’ will really appreciate air-conditioning when you get back. You’ve got a smile on your face and because you’re constantly looking around and noting the subtle niceties of this trip, you enjoy it thoroughly.

This is much more than simply looking on the bright side.  I am telling  you that what you choose to see WILL be your reality. You will get what  you expect to get.

Now let’s bring this idea to a much larger scale…let’s apply it to life as a whole. Watch this clip of comedian Bill Hicks ending one of his shows with his philosophy — “Life is just a ride.”

We can view life in any way that we want to see it. You can view life as being difficult, full of responsibility, sometimes fun but often times just a lot of work. Or you can perceive life as just being a ride. A time period we are allotted during which we can do ANYTHING we want to do. A mission to be happy, have fun and love others.

The ultimate point here is that you choose how you want your life to be. Fulfilling your dreams is only as difficult as you decide it will be. This can be applied to anything and it makes life a hell of a lot more awesome and easy. If it’s hard for you to grasp, try applying it to small things first and move upward. I guarantee it will change your life…