A matter of perspective

 `Reality is a question of perspective´ Salman Rushdie 

Sometimes we all get stuck. I see it happen to my students all the time. They have a certain way of looking at something, and they are unable to look at it from a different angle. It's like one of those drawings where when you look at it you either see a duck or a fox. But once you've seen the duck? You can never ever unsee it. 

The trick of course, is to change your perspective, to take a step back and look at the problem from another angle, in other words: change your approach. But, this is easier said that done. Our brains are funny things and stubborn to boot, and not just our brains, our behaviors too! We don't like changing course once we've set out to do something, or at least I certainly don't. It takes something radical, something completely different to change my perspective once I have gotten truly stuck.

Today, serves as an excellent example, for it was an unbelieveably hellish day due to many reasons that I won't go into. If only because I cannot stand to type it all out, in case I get stuck once more. Safe to say .... I was not in a great mood. Something that did not improve when, at the end of the day, I had to attend the mandatory team meeting. If there is one thing you must know about me (aside from my love of chocolate and all things Harry Potter, my hatred for my cat AND my pessimistic nature) it is that I absolutely, completely and thoroughly detest meetings. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a good meeting. Not even something as a productive meeting. Meetings in and of itself are evil torturous things.  Safe to say, today's meeting? Not the best time I have ever had. And then, halfway through this experience that could most accurately be described as something belonging to the seventh circle of hell, one of my colleagues made us do an energizer. And lemme tell you.. I was ready to literally tear his throat out. An energizer in the middle of a fucking meeting... could he not see none of us even wanted to be there? And I think that was the point. He knew damned well. So, he made us play a game and totally conned us into having fun. It was the most 'teachery' thing I have ever witnessed. And while I knew what he was doing, and while I was determined (DETERMINED I tell you!) to not let it happen. It happened anyway, for suddenly I was having fun at a meeting. It was masterfully done and got my brain unstuck from its darkest setting, making me hate that particular meeting a little less than before.  

Now, obviously it did not change my entire 'meetings belong to the seventh circle of hell' perspective. However, this small thing was enough to at least temporarily make me look at it from a different angle. And for someone like me, whose brain gets stuck a lot, that is a very valuable thing. Hell, it even made me look at the rest of my unbelievably hellish day and question whether all of it was truly terrible. Spoiler alert: it wasn't. Don't get me wrong.. it was still a shitty day. But it wasn't all shitty. There were a lot of good things that happened too. And when I realized that the day really wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be, the urge to sit in a fetal position in the corner of a room while crying disappeared. If that does not qualify as personal growth and a show of maturity, I don't know what does. 

Therefore my advice to you, if you are like me and your brain gets stuck easily, is to try and find something small to help you change your perspective. It could be anything really: keeping a journal, doing some yoga, going for a walk (write a blog :P). Just come up with any sort of activity, mantra or motto that can change your perspective and help you see your fox when before you only saw that stupid quacking duck.