The Power of Perspective

What if I told you that the life you are living today is a construction of your imagination?

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that your life is imaginary and that no one else can see it.  What I'm saying is that everything that you think to be true is only true because you think it to be.  That the reality of your life's events are entirely based on how you decided to see things.

It's your version — your perception.

Does this freak you?  Do you think I'm nuts?

Or, does this make you feel incredibly powerful?

Gustav Flaubert said, "There is no truth.  There is only perception".  When I first heard this quoted by a dear colleague of mine I remember blowing her off thinking, what the hell is she talking about?  There are certain things in this world that we know to be right or wrong, true or false.  To be honest I thought she was a bit nuts at the time.

But then I got to thinking...

Maybe there's some truth to the idea that there is no reality, only perception.

The truth of this saying was never more clear to me than when I finished reading The Girls by Lori Lansens.  This book fascinated me because the main characters Ruby and Rose Darlen are craniopagus twins.  That means that they are conjoined at the head.

What I found most striking about this novel is how Lansens cleverly writes Ruby and Rose's story from each of their perspectives.  The novel takes the form of an autobiography that oscillates between the two sisters.  As you read, you put together the bits and pieces of the lives that these two girls lived.  Clues that are dropped by one sister are explained by the other.  Stories that are half told from one sister are clarified or sometimes made more complex by the other.

Although Rose and Ruby were often lumped together as one single person and nicknamed "the girls", they led two distinct lives side by side.  Even though they shared the same DNA and exact life experiences, they ended up having two very different experiences.

For me, this blew my mind. 

Even though the two girls share the exact same genetic makeup and have the exact same life experiences, which means that they have the same genetic predispositions and environmental influences, as they told their story they saw events in two entirely different ways.  Their perspectives were most certainly not the same.

In some cases, their perspectives were radically different.

But why?

Enter in, the power of perspective.

I've heard so many people complain about their life.  I helpfully respond by suggesting a different point of view or an alternative way to perceive the situation only to have them retort with an "easy for you to say" response.

To me that's a cop out.

Only you have control on how you see your life and look at the world.  And only you have the power to make the shift from victim to victor.

Imagine the power of a second chance at living your life?  No, not re-incarnation, but the same body and existence with the ability to experience it all differently.  The chance to step out of your reality and place yourself a new position.  Kind of like shifting from being Rose to being Ruby.

Your life would then be simultaneously the same and completely different all at once.

That my friends, is the power of perspective.