Interesting perspectives.

Take a look at the picture above. It may just look like a load of lines and not much else, but look carefully...relax your eyes and really LOOK at the photo. It may take a little time for you to see, but eventually you should see some words.

Someone posted this photo to me on Facebook this week and it got me thinking about looking at things from different perspectives. 

Sometimes we may encounter a hostile individual; just think for a minute, have experienced any of these? An angry shopper in a shop, someone losing their temper on the road, a boss or a partner shouting or humiliating you for what seems like unjustified reasons. 

Just for a second, think back to a time when this has happened in your life. Experience the feelings that incident promoted in you at that time. That person may have been so angry that it made you even more angry.  How DARE that person talk to you or treat you in such an angry and hostile manner!! It may have made you want to run away and cry! How could someone be so horrible to you?! Even remembering something that happened years ago can promote feelings of upset when you think of it now. 

But let's look at things differently for a moment. Lets start to feel better about those feelings right now and change the way we view that situation so that we can just let it go completely! 

Have you ever considered why they were treating you that way? What was it in their lives that was effecting the way they felt? I'm guessing you were so cross and so upset that you didn't stop to find out.  

What if you could peek into their lives? Perhaps that angry boss had just found out his wife was leaving. Maybe the person who gesticulated at you angrily on the road had just lost his mother.

Often, if someone is behaving in an angry manner towards you, it means something is very wrong in their own lives. Stress can do strange things to peoples behavior. 

So the next time someone gets cross with you, or says something hurtful to you, if you are in a position to do so, ask them if they are ok...they may be grateful you did, and not only will you have stopped an uncomfortable altercation from getting worse, but you may also find you are not left with negative feelings about the event.