it's all how you look at it.

when i was in FMMC, pastor art did a teaching on how a certain circumstance can look entirely different simply by changing your perspective. during friday morning chapels, pastor art normally stood on the stage (which was just one step above the rest of the room) and everyone else sat out in the chairs facing the stage. well, on this particular friday, he had all of the students sit on stage and he stood on the main level. when he first asked us to sit on stage, it was kind of awkward. 'do we take our chairs?' 'should we face him or the front of the room?' 'what is he trying to teach us from this?'. i had so many questions. then he started speaking and everything became crystal clear.

so many times, i look at an obstacle in my life from a negative view. and if i'm not looking at it negatively, i probably have already visited that stage and have moved on. it is so easy to coast through life with a 'woe is me' attitude. like you deserve something. like you've earned a better life. it's all in perspective...

when i was sitting on the stage, i wasn't nearly as focused. i was distracted. yet, somehow, i was so in tune with what PA was saying. some people were sitting on the stage, some kneeling, some standing. all of us saw the room differently. all of us had different views. different perspectives.

so, how do you change your mindset to grasp things differently than you always have? how do you break out of the norm?

i have been re-reading a great book lately that we received as a wedding gift ('the most important year in a woman's life') and it was talking about how simply doing what was normal will be destructive in a marriage. it told a story about a group of people that went white-water rafting and their raft got flipped over in the rapids. if you have ever been ww rafting, they will firmly instruct you that if you fall out, do not put your feet down. well... a man had fallen out and was trying to get his balance in the rapids and put his feet down. it was natural. it was normal. and it ended up costing him his life. his foot got wedged between to rocks and he couldn't get up for air.

sometimes simply doing what comes natural can cost you everything.

i have been trying to see things more clearly lately. i know my view has been foggy lately. won't you do the same?