Perspective

I have been thinking a lot about how our perspective shapes our decisions... And consequently the total outcomes of our lives.

The thought I'm considering tonight is this:  how greatly does the angle from which we view certain problems change the solutions we might employ?  When I consider work/life balance questions from the perspective of a father, it's easy to make arrangements necessary to fulfill my family's needs.  The same question from my role as an employer has me concerned for company growth, efficiency, and employee success (and their work life balance concerns).  From the employee perspective, I consider the needs of the employer.

The key with perspective is that (at least in art) it relates to an ultimate vanishing point.  In other words, the artist asks:  if I were to draw a set of lines demonstrating the angle from which the subject is being pictured, where would those lines converge into a single vanishing point?  From this, the artist can tell exactly where related lines and objects should appear in order to maintain consistency in the work.

I think decisions in our lives have a similar effect on outcomes in our life.  When we choose a strategic set of metaphorical lines around which we build consistency for the decisions we make, then creating dependable outcomes from our choices becomes easy.  When we continually shift views from one perspective to another, we turn our lives into an Ansel-Adams-like mess where we are often confused about what is up or down, or what is inside or out.

Wile "thinking outside the box" is helpful for creative solutions, and undoubtedly we all have various roles where seemingly conflicting perspectives may make for difficult decisions, I think there are perspective lines that could be drawn that encompass all of the roles we might assume in life.  Such a totally encompassing perspective would need to create a directional vanishing point as to point a vivid direction that gives a meaningful place for each decision we may make.

I believe in such a perspective.  I call it eternal perspective.  It stems primarily from my belief that the spirit of man is immortal--that it existed before this mortal life, and will continue to exist hereafter.  From this perspective, the vanishing point for each role I play is complimented by an overarching framework--an Eternal perspective.  This perspective tells me the ultimate vanishing point of the entire picture that is my life gives shape to the direction in which my choices build whatever character I create.  

In this sense--from a view of this eternal perspective (along with the ever present question: what does this decision mean to the eternal nature of my character and soul?)--almost every decision becomes rather simple to make.  Of course "simple" is never to be confused with "easy".  Knowing the right thing, however, is the first step to doing the right thing.