Shifting the Camera Angle

361 Marbles 
In my own worst seasons I've come back from the colorless world of despair by forcing myself to look hard, for a long time, at a single glorious thing: a flame of red geranium outside my bedroom window. And then another: my daughter in a yellow dress. And another: the perfect outline of a full, dark sphere behind the crescent moon. Until I learned to be in love with my life again. Like a stroke victim retraining new parts of the brain to grasp lost skills, I have taught myself joy, over and over again. 
Barbara Kingsolver, "High Tide In Tucson: Essays From Now Or Never"


    When I get into a rut or a stuck way of viewing something, I try to act as the director of this production called my life.  I pull-back and readjust my camera angle to get a different view of the scene.  I also examine the camera to see if there’s some wonky filter on the lens that’s casting the light in a displeasing manner. 
    Today I did an accounting of my life and my balance sheet left me overwhelmed.  I did the only thing I could think to do – I took myself for a run – half in an effort to run from my problems, half as a way to ensure that I breathe. 
    On that run, my inner voice went from, “I’m a single mom with little money and three kids,” to “I’m a mother of three kids, all the more reason to make more money.” Something shifted and I went from limiting, fear-filled thoughts to more expansive and inviting thoughts.  I changed my camera angle and got a different view of the same situation.  I acknowledged that the filter that was on my lens as the scarcity mentality that I experienced growing up.  I got rid of the filter, knowing that it would probably make its way back on my lens in less-than-conscious moments.  
   Instead of thinking of my one limited income being stretched to cover four people, I open myself to an expanded income that is more than enough to support my family.  I let it go and put one foot in front of the other.  I remembered to breathe. 

If you are becoming fixated on looking at events in one way, shift your focus and look from a different angle.  Flex your ability to see things in a different way. At every juncture, step out of fear and into possibility.