Am I the only one who finds myself looking at the same thing, or being in the same place just standing in a different position and yet what I am looking at, or where I am looks completely different from anything familiar?

I ride to and from work the exact same way every time.  There is a 1/2 mile stretch along the trail that when riding one way I know exactly where I am but when riding the other direction I always feel completely turned around and have no concept as to where I am other than the fact that I know I am just a few miles from work.  Nothing changes about this part of the trail overnight!  No one comes in the replants and bushes or moves the river just to confuse me.  It’s simply about perspective.

Think about this with me for a moment.  The definition of perspective is pretty simple : a point of view.  How is it then that the actual concept in our life isn’t quite so simple.  Depending on what we are looking at, how we are looking at it, when and where, our surroundings may look radically different.  It’s all dependent on our perspective.

One day the way that you are looking at something or a situation it seems to have this shape of beauty.  For example, on my ride home I have the river glistening to my right, the winding trail before me and blue skies above me.  There is a mansion on a hill not far away; I know exactly where I am.  On my ride to work in the morning all that I seem to see are overgrown bushes that protrude into my riding path, more hills that I remember from the night before and I have to search to find that glistening river.

I can honestly say that my own perspective in life is greatly defined by how I am looking at something.  Maybe I am the only one but just the simple act of looking at 1 word, or 1 act with a different perspective can greatly alter my reaction and how my gut can either churn or rest in stillness and peace.

For me, it’s mainly stress that alters my perspective.  During that part of the ride, when I am heading home everything looks beautiful because I have only ridden 2 miles.  The next morning, I am 10 miles in and just want to be done.  At times, in life, it is no different.  I need to focus on this:

“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things that we see now will soon be gone, but the things that we cannot see will last forever.”  2 Corinthians 4:18

When it comes to this however, I am not always the best and handing them over to God and allowing His perfect will to be done.  I am the one who will ride in circles until I realize that I am in the same place that I was before it just all looked a little different.  There has to come a point that we start to see things the same.

I need to stop looking at the bushes overgrown into the pathway and the hills ahead of me and rather, fix my gaze and my perspective on what cannot be seen, because that is what lasts forever.