It’s easy to lose perspective, especially if you are too close to a situation, project, or person. Getting some distance helps you see things more clearly. When you remove yourself—in time or space—you see things differently or more objectively.
So often things are not as they seem. From our viewpoint, we only see one reality. In fact, more than one reality exists.
Recently, a friend called me all upset because she hadn’t received a part in a stage production. She was sure she should have at least been an understudy since she performed the part the year before for the same production company, but her name appeared nowhere on the cast list.
Two days later she discovered she had, indeed, gotten the role in the play. The computer had failed to print the last few lines of the cast list, which caused her name to get cut off.
Once she allowed herself to feel upset, her mind couldn’t fathom the possibility that a mistake had occurred. She just assumed the worst.
And while she assumed she didn’t have the role, the director expected her to show up for rehearsals because she had the role. Two different perspectives. Two different viewpoints.
There’s always another perspective—or two or three. Sometimes you just need to walk away from the situation to see it.
That’s why writers are told to put manuscripts away for a week or more before they edit them. They more easily see the problems in the work when they get some distance from it. They have a new perspective. They aren’t so “close” to the writing at that point.
As you begin the week, determine if there is a situation or project that would benefit from you getting some distance? Rise above it or move away from it. Get a new perspective.
Have you gained important perspective when you allowed distance between yourself and a project, person, or situation? Tell me about it in a comment below.
