Perspective is everything. It starts the moment you wake up in the morning and lasts until you fall back to sleep at night. It is one of the most powerful tools in a happy life. I know this because one day in my life (about twenty years ago) I woke up and decided to treat my perspective as the precious gift that it is. Since that day my perspective and I have been great pals.

This is something that I have been giving some thought to because in my daily conversations with people I get to hear their point of view, which is sometimes the same as my point of view and sometimes different.  I have come to realize that in all avenues of our lives the thing that makes us, molds us, changes us, grows us, nourishes us, feeds us and turns us into the eventuality of who we become is born out perspective. It always amazes me that two people can have the same set of circumstances and end up living two completely different experiences. Why is that? It is because of what we believe and what we tell ourselves. It is because of how we percieve the experience–anticipating the outcome, participating in the moment, and then reflecting on what transpired. Really, in any of these steps our perspective is what sets the tone for how we enter an experience, how we react to it and how we sum up our feelings about  it. When one of my children is worried about an upcoming practice or performance I have been known to, every once in a while, say “Just get out there and shine your light, and if you cannot do that then just try to fake it!” I do not say that as a joke! And I don’t mean to actually fake the whole thing, but I am trying to illustrate to them that if you set your mind to thinking that you are going to go out there and shine, you convince yourself that you can do it, and even if you were faking it, when you walk away that light will follow you. This is the magic of perception. It is something that no one can take away from you and something only you can give away. It is your own gift to yourself. I read something today and this is what it said, “We are never really alert to our destinies, are we?” and it hit me– we do not get clues along the way to finding our destiny and creating a fulfilled and happy life. We are not given a map or a cheat sheet. We don’t know that one particular minute that changes our lives forever, but we know that it happens. Poof! One moment in time and our lives are changed forever! Just for kicks, over the next couple of days, try out opening your perspective every day as a gift! … Use it to transform your ordinary experiences to extraordinary ones. Imagine that you are going into an everyday experience and create an inner dialogue of positivity as you anticipate the experience. I can do this and it is going to be fabulous. Once you arrive, set the tone with your attitude, fake it if you have to. Oh yeah, I got this, I’m workin it! Once you are finished, reflect back with as much intention as you started out with. That was amazing! Maybe when asked, “are you excited?“, “are you nervous?“, “how did it go?“, your answers will reflect the attitude that you brought into the situations with you and they will reflect that you transformed the experience into something beautiful just by your perspective! Is your glass half empty? half full? or three quarters of the way there? Is the grass greener in your own little garden or does it look greener on the other side?  Was that small moment the biggest part of your day? Count the simple times on the same hand that you count the big ones. Each second that you fully experience the moment are you laying the foundation for a magical minute, hour, day, week, month and year? We only get these minutes once in a lifetime, and hey I get it, they might not all be exactly what you dreamed of, but with the right perspective they make great days, great years, a great life! When that alarm clock sounds tomorrow morning just get out there and let your light shine, shine, shine!