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How To Develop Different Perspectives On Life

What Is a Life Perspective?

Life perspective is the way people see life, including the way they approach life and all there is in their personal experience.

In this life, few things are absolutely right or wrong. What we usually have are two different perspectives on one thing. We have a person saying something is bad and should not be done, and then we have another person saying that “bad” is a strong word to use for the same thing.

Recently, a question hit social media: “Can you marry or go into a relationship with your best friend’s spouse if your best friend is dead?”

As usual, different answers hit the net, and while some thought it was morally wrong based on a truckload of sentiments, others felt there was absolutely no big deal to it. This was based on the fact that the person who would probably have an issue with this was dead, and there were no reports of the two people who now want to go into a relationship seeing each other before the death of the ex-spouse.

As a neutral person who has not picked a side yet, you can see that both sides of this argument have concrete reasons to support their answers. They have different choices, and all of the choices are valid.

While one set sees life from the perspective of “anything goes as long as it makes you happy,” another set sees life as “there are boundaries you should not cross.”

You see now that there are two valid perspectives here. Both of them are right in their choices, and saying one is wrong is an unsupportable stance.

There are more than 7 billion people in the world seeing things a lot differently compared to the next person. This complicates life because, instead of seeing the similarities we share, we often focus on what is different, which leads to disagreements and fights. Simply making a switch and attempting to see from a different perspective could help many of these problems.

How Important Is Your Perspective on Life?

Your perspective on life determines how you relate to people, how you handle relationships and troubles, and how you live day-to-day. You may not realize how important your perspective on life is because we often feel that as long as other people’s opinions and decisions do not affect us, ours should not affect other people

However, the fact is that our perspective on life does affect the people around us.

Imagine two individuals having to look at the number “6” from different points of view.

We can end up having two adults who refuse to agree to disagree and separate after a heated argument, destroying the chances of building a relationship.

We can also end up having two adults who swapped positions and perspectives and looked through each other’s eyes for a minute to see that this could either be a 6 or a 9, depending on where they stood. This could graduate into handshakes, drinks later, and the start of a friendship. And all they had to do was view things from a different perspective.

Your perspective on life can either make or mar a relationship.

If you have a bad or negative perspective on life, it affects everything and everyone around you negatively. You find yourself constantly being angry and not being able to accept other people’s perspectives.

Other times you find yourself complaining and stressing over things that simply require a small shift in your perspective.

Having a good perspective on life gives you an advantage.

First of all, you are a lot more open to seeing from other people’s perspective, thus making it easy for you to create meaningful relationships.

It also gives you a lot more reasons to be grateful and happy. If you live a life where you are constantly showing gratitude and being happy, then you have lived a fulfilled life.

How to Change Your Perspective on Life

Changing your perspective is an active decision you have to make intentionally. First, you have to come to terms with the fact that your current perspective on life is not absolute and can be changed. Then, you have to understand the importance of having a different perspective from the one you already have.

Once you have dealt with these, here are some active steps you can take to changing your perspective on life.

1. Stop Complaining

Whatever the issue is, whenever you feel like complaining, fold your thumb, bite your tongue, do something and make sure it stops you from letting out that complaint. When you listen and try to understand more than you complain, you are beginning to see things from diverse perspectives.

2. Consciously Seek Happiness

When you are happier, you will see things more positively and seek out more things that make you happy. However, when you are constantly brooding and thinking negatively, your perspective will never change, and soon all that negativity will begin to spread around you like wildfire.

3. Reduce the Social Media Vitriol

Oftentimes on social media, people will post one thing and followers will take on a different perspective regarding its meaning.

When different phrases in a post hit social media, some people do not understand them, which can increase online conflicts.

Responding to critical or negative posts with a sense of maturity and lightheartedness will lessen any vitriol spills and keeps anyone from receiving blocks.

When you are on social media, always seek the other angle of the person disagreeing with you. Your opinion is not alpha, it is just an opinion and can change.

The beautiful thing about perspective is that it is subject to change. It is not static, and the decision to alter it rests on you.

Final Thoughts

The moment your perspective on life comes to play, always remember that it is not the alpha perspective and that the other person’s perspective matters as well.

Your perspective on life can also improve, and trying to get into someone else’s shoes might show you the way to betting your thoughts and your attitude.

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How to Stay Motivated and Reach Your Big Goals in Life

It is hardly a secret that the key to successfully accomplishing one goal after another is staying motivated. There are, of course, tasks which successful people may not like at all, yet they find motivation to complete them because they recognize how each particular task serves a greater goal.

So how to stay motivated most of the time? Here are 5 simple yet effective ways on how to be motivated and get what you want:

1. Find Your Good Reasons

Anything you do, no matter how simple, has a number of good reasons behind it.

You may not be able to find good reasons to do some tasks at first but, if you take just a few moments to analyze them, you will easily spot something good. We also have many tasks which don’t need any reasoning at all – we’ve been doing them for so long that they feel natural.

If you’re ever stuck with some tasks you hate and there seems to be no motivation to complete it whatsoever, here’s what you need to do: find your good reasons.

Even when you set goals, there needs to be reasons behind these goals. They may not be obvious, but stay at it until you see some, as this will bring your motivation back and will help you finish the task.

Some ideas for what a good reason can be:

  • A material reward – quite often, you will get paid for doing something you normally don’t like doing at all.
  • Personal gain – you will learn something new or will perhaps improve yourself in a certain way.
  • A feeling of accomplishment – at least you’ll be able to walk away feeling great about finding the motivation and courage to complete such a tedious task.
  • A step closer to your bigger goal – even the biggest accomplishments in history have started small and relied on simple and far less pleasant tasks than you might be working on. Every task you complete brings you closer to the ultimate goal, and acknowledging this always feels good.

2. Make It Fun

When it comes to motivation, attitude is everything. Different people may have completely opposite feelings towards the same task: some will hate it, others will love it.
Why do you think this happens? It’s simple: some of us find ways to make any task interesting and fun to do!

Take sports for example. Visiting your local gym daily for a half-an-hour workout session sounds rather boring to some. Yet many others love the idea!

They like exercising not only because they recognize the good reasons behind it, but simply because it’s fun! At certain time of their daily schedule, they find going to gym to be the best thing to do, simply because nothing else will fit their time and lifestyle so perfectly.

Depending on how you look at it, you can have fun doing just about anything! Just look for ways of having fun, and you’ll find them!

A simple approach is to start working on any task by asking yourself a few questions:

  • How can I enjoy this task?
  • What can I do to make this task fun for myself and possibly for others?
  • How can I make this work the best part of my day?
  • As long as you learn to have the definite expectation of any task being potentially enjoyable, you will start to feel motivated.

Some of you will probably think of a thing or two which are valid exceptions from this statement, like something you always hate doing no matter how hard you try making it fun. You’re probably right, and that’s why I don’t claim everything to be fun.

However, most tasks have a great potential of being enjoyable, and so looking for ways to have fun while working is definitely a good habit to acquire.

3. Change Your Approach And Don’t Give Up

When something doesn’t feel right, it’s always a good time to take a moment and look for a different approach for the task.

You may be doing everything correctly and most efficiently, but such approach isn’t necessarily the most motivating one. Quite often, you can find a number of obvious tweaks to your current approach which will both change your experience and open up new possibilities.

That’s why saying “one way or another” is so common — if you really want to accomplish your goal, there is always a way; and most likely, there’s more than one way.

If a certain approach doesn’t work for you, find another one, and keep trying until you find the one which will both keep you motivated and get you the desired results.

Some people think that trying a different approach means giving up. They take pride in being really stubborn and refusing to try any other options on their way towards the goal.

My opinion on this is that the power of focus is great, but

you should be focusing on your goal, and not limiting your options by focusing on just one way to accomplish it.

4. Recognize Your Progress

Everything you may be working on can be easily split into smaller parts and stages. For most goals, it is quite natural to split the process of accomplishing them into smaller tasks and milestones. There are a few reasons behind doing this, and one of them is tracking your progress.

We track our progress automatically with most activities. But to stay motivated, you need to recognize your progress, not merely track it.

Here’s how tracking and recognizing your progress is different:

Tracking is merely taking a note of having reached a certain stage in your process. Recognizing is taking time to look at a bigger picture and realize where exactly you are, and how much more you have left to do

For example, if you’re going to read a book, always start by going through the contents table. Getting familiar with chapter titles and memorizing their total number will make it easier for you to recognize your progress as you read. Confirming how many pages your book has before starting it is also a good idea.

You see, reading any book you will be automatically looking at page numbers and chapter titles, but without knowing the total number of pages, this information will have little meaning.

Somehow, it is human nature to always want things to happen in short term or even at once. Even though we split complex tasks into simpler actions, we don’t quite feel the satisfaction until all is done and the task is fully complete.

For many scenarios though, the task is so vast that such approach will drain all the motivation out of you long before you have a chance to reach your goal. That’s why it is important to always take small steps and recognize the positive different and progress made. This is how your motivation can sustain in long term.

5. Reward Yourself

This is a trick everyone likes: rewarding yourself is always pleasant. This is also one of the easiest and at the same time most powerful ways to stay motivated!

Feeling down about doing something? Dread the idea of working on some task? Hate the whole idea of working? You’re not alone.

Right from the beginning, agree on some deliverables which will justify yourself getting rewarded. As soon as you get one of the agreed results, take time to reward yourself in some way.

For some tasks, just taking a break and relaxing for a few minutes will do.

For others, you may want to get a fresh cup of coffee and even treat yourself a dessert.

For even bigger and more demanding tasks, reward yourself by doing something even more enjoyable, like going to a cinema or taking a trip to some place nice, or even buying yourself something.

Your progress may not seem to others like anything worth celebrating but, take time and do it anyway! It is your task and your reward, so any ways to stay motivated are good.

The more you reward yourself for the honestly made progress, the more motivated you will feel about reaching new milestones, thus finally accomplishing your goal.

Mix and Match for the Best Effect!

Now that you have these five ways of staying motivated, it is a good moment to give you the key to them all: mix and match!

Pick one of the techniques and apply it to your situation. If it doesn’t work, or if you simply want to get more motivated, try another technique right away. Mix different approaches and match them to your task for the best results.

Just think about it: Finding good reasons to work on your task is bound to helping you feel better; and identifying ways to make it fun will help you enjoy the task even more.

Or, if you plan a few points for easier tracking of your progress and on top of that, agree on rewarding yourself as you go; this will make you feel most motivated about anything you have to work through.

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Should I Just Do What Is Important First?

We’ve all heard the advice: do the most important task first thing in your day.

It’s fine advice, but oftentimes, it has backfired. Why?

You have to know what’s most important first before you can do it.

Which means you have to be willing to name and own what you want.

Sometimes that’s easy. You want a job. You want to pump up your health. You want to finish your project. You want to keep the kids alive, the bills paid.

You want the insanity about this pandemic to end and people to wear their masks.

And sometimes, you don’t know what you want. Or you do, but you don’t feel “good enough” for what you want. Or you’re just too tired to do anything about it.

Then analysis-paralysis, time monsters, procrastination, and plain old “why bother?” can eat up your days.

Because without desire, it’s difficult to know what’s most important.

But who has any bandwidth for desire these days?

Yet, without it, everything is so dry. So very dry.

We have just transitioned into a new year and it is natural to want to add new challenges and up your game. But it is also not news that there’s a chance you don’t know exactly what you want to do next.

You do what needs to be done but at the end of the day, you feel empty and insufficient.

You know you need to resist doing and spend time being, which sounds like such a cliche, but it’s the bone deep truth.

Yet when you’re frayed and flattened by so many giant global events, who wants to settle? you just want to numb.

It is clearly understood.

But here’s the deal:
Don’t pressure yourself just because you need to do something. Take it easy on yourself and give yourself moments to settle down. Promise yourself to not enact a new idea until you are sure you really want to do it. And not to forget, you know why you’re doing it.

Journalling is a great way to help you keep things in check. It helps you think clear thoughts.

Settling down is a learned skill. We’re social creatures, we have complex lives to tend to, and being quiet with ourselves often takes effort. Nevertheless, who is going to determine your future—Netflix, your boss, your pet, social media, your to-do list, or your deeper desires, values, aspirations, or the full and awakened life calling to you? Settling down is an act of soul resistance, and your life depends on it.

What will never become clear, never grow roots and become real, or never feel truly possible to me if I don’t settle?

I get how hard it is to allow room and time to be so we can listen to what’s next. Even when you have no kids and families to take care of, you agree that it is still hard to settle down and quiet your thoughts sometimes.

But then, it is exactly these moments where we don’t know what we want where we need to listen the most. To journal, to talk, to be still.

The most important thing to do, when you don’t know what you want, is to spend time settling down into the grace of inner stillness. However you wish.

And if all of this makes you want to run screaming from the room, put your hand on your heart and remind yourself allowing desire can trigger your emotional immune system to say, “Threat! Extreme danger! Run away now!” Notice you are okay in this moment. You have enough oxygen to breathe, gravity is holding you to the Earth, and you’re not starving; you’re okay.

Then ask yourself, “What’s one tiny thing I desire right now?” Even if you can’t have it, ask. Be curious for yourself.

Doing what’s most important can become a hustling scam when we don’t connect it back to what we truly care about. Life will always be filled with important stuff to do, people to take care of, the planet to fight for, and yet we can lose our way and fall into emptiness and “blahness” without a relationship to desire.

So before you rush onto the next thing, ask yourself “is this really important to me right now?”

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How To Be Consistent

One of the seemingly difficult things to do is to be consistent.
Consistent in our creative work, in building our businesses, taking care of our health, staying in relationship with friends and family, or in our spiritual practice.

We all need some form of consistency in our lives but despite this knowledge, why is it still hard to be consistent?

Before we address that, it is pertinent to point out that it isn’t always hard to be consistent. There are times when it is easy to maintain a level of consistency.

When are those times?

  • When we feel safe.
  • When we are surrounded by effective support systems like decent work, decent health insurance and care, decent housing, decent air and water quality, in-person connection and community, etc.
  • When we have basic, healthy boundaries in place. (Difficult when your home is bursting with people who don’t usually live there.)
  • When we are doing things we genuinely care about or that we know support us in doing what we genuinely care about.
  • When we remember nobody need give us permission and there aren’t any rules.
  • When we see the impossible standards of modern life for what they are — a major distraction and energy drain — and, instead, embrace our human-scaled life.
  • When we keep asking ourselves, “What do I want to be consistent about and why?”
  • When we have mercy on ourselves and others.
  • When we always begin again, but only on what we value.

People always want to know how to be consistent. I believe you also want to know how to be consistent, that’s why you’re still reading.

But the main question you should ask is “why do I want to be consistent?

Consistency for consistency’s sake can become a false god that demands endless sacrifices of your time and life’s energy for no good reason.

Consistency to ground  you and help you create more of a life that sings with your signature themes and desires, and health and well-being? That’s the good kind.

The world is full of noisy advice and bossy shoulds about how to live your “best” life. How would anyone else know that but you?

You may think you want to know how to be consistent, but —

For the sake of what will you be consistent?

Is that consistency possible given your current life and the pandemic? Probably yes but maybe not like before. Can you be open to change?

If it isn’t, what needs to change? Your demands on yourself? Your boundaries? Your support systems?

Understanding the need for consistency and what it would cost you to be consistent is the key to be consistent.

Be flexible, be open to changes because life cannot be a hundred percent predictable so don’t be afraid to switch protocols when life happens.

Knowing why you do the things you do will help you put in your best and be consistent at things without pressure.

To your life, lived the only way it can be–by you. No forcing, no holding back.

 

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Sad: Little Girl Dies After Swallowing Remote Control Battery That Generated Electricity Inside Her

A baby girl has died after swallowing a tiny button battery which began generating electricity inside her and eroded through her tissues, causing terrible burns.

Reese Smith, 1, died last Thursday, Dec 17, weeks after taking the button battery out of a remote control at her home in Lubbock, Texas, and swallowing it.

Reese suffered severe burns to her throat, oesophagus and vocal cords.

Pediatrician Dr Thomas McGill, who treated Reese, said the youngster’s mucus membrane had been burned “completely black, as if you were roasting a marshmallow.”

Dr McGill, who treated Reese at University Medical Center in Lubbock, explained that one side of the flat battery has a positive charge, while the other has a negative charge. So, the battery began generating electricity after settling in the child’s oesophagus, before eroding through the oesophagus and settling in her airway.

Reese’s mother Trista, a hairdresser, noticed her daughter could not stop coughing last month, and feared she may have swallowed the battery after noticing a remote whose back had been taken off.

Trista rushed her daughter to hospital, where an x-ray confirmed her worst fears.

Reese was later transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. There, she underwent multiple surgeries to remove the battery and try and repair the damage to her insides.

Unfortunately, the toddler eventually succumbed to her injuries despite surgeons’ best efforts to save her.

 

Girl, 1, dies after swallowing remote control battery that generated electricity inside her

 

Doctors said the battery had been inside the child for too long to save her.

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Actress Taraji P. Henson Reveals She Contemplated Suicide During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Hollywood actress, Taraji P. Henson is opening up about a “dark moment” she had during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Speaking on her Facebook Watch series, Peace of Mind with Taraji, the actress said she contemplated taking her own life while discussing mental breakdown with co-host Tracie Jade and licensed psychologist, Dr. LaShonda Green.

She detailed the “dark moment” she faced after the coronavirus pandemic left her feeling withdrawn and isolated.

“During this pandemic, it’s been hard on all of us, and I had a moment. I had a dark moment,” she recalled. “I was in a dark place. For a couple of days, I couldn’t get out of the bed, I didn’t care. That’s not me. Then, I started having thoughts about ending it. It happened two nights in a row.”

Prior to this, Taraji said she had purchased a gun. The actress remembered thinking to herself, “I could go in there right now and just end it all, ’cause I want it to be over.”

When her 26-year-old son, Marcell Johnson, crossed her mind, Taraji told herself he’d “get over it” because he’s an adult.

After Taraji said she began “withdrawing” and stopped responding to concern loved ones who had reached out, she realized she needed to speak up about her feelings.

“Finally,” the 50-year-old remembered, “I’m talking to one of my girlfriends and I knew, I was smart enough to say, ‘I have to say it.’ Because a part of me was ashamed. I was like, ‘I don’t want them to think I’m crazy. I don’t want them to obsess over me or think they gotta come and sit on me.'”

Taraji continued, “So one day I just blurted it out to my girlfriend. She called me in the morning and I was like, ‘You know I thought about killing myself last night. Oh my god, I feel so much better. I’m not gonna do it now.'”

The Oscar nominee explained, “…what scared me, is that I did it two nights in a row. And the thoughts kept coming. Now I started think about how. At first, it was like, I don’t want to be here. And then I started thinking about going and getting the gun. And that’s why when I woke up the next morning, and I blurted it out. Because I felt like after a while it was going to take over me and it was going to become a plan because that’s how strong my brain is. Our thoughts… They’re that powerful.”

This comes a month after she opened up about the end of her engagement to former NFL star, Kelvin Hayden.

 

 

 

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Mum Gives Birth To Triplets From Two Different Wombs

A mum has become the first woman in the UK to give birth to triplets from two different wombs.

Melanie Bassett, 32, was already a mum-of-two but was left stunned when doctors made the discovery that she was carrying identical babies in one of her wombs and another child in a second womb.

The parent first discovered she had two wombs when she was pregnant with her first child Phoebe, now three, in 2016.

Along with her husband Ben, 33, Melanie, from Hampshire, then welcomed their first son Blake into the world in 2019.

But in January this year, the couple were amazed to welcome triplets, Brooke, Isabelle and Beau.

Mum gives birth to triplets from two different wombs

Having twins from two wombs, commonly known as uterus didelphys, is estimated to be a one in a million occurrence. And Melanie is thought to be the first example of the rare case in the UK.

Melanie has uterus didelphys which also creates the possibility of a second vagina. Rather than looking like a regular womb, the mum’s womb is heart-shaped with two chambers.

The condition doesn’t make it harder for a woman to conceive but it increases the risk of a miscarriage or premature birth. The mum had her first and second children via C-section.

Then two months after welcoming her second chid via CS, Melanie discovered she was pregnant again. It wasn’t until the 12-week scan where the sonographer told the couple they were expecting triplets in separate wombs.

Melanie and Ben were advised to go for scans every fortnight so doctors can keep an eye on the pregnancy.

The triplets were eventually born via C-section at 32 weeks on January 26 this year.

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“Before You DM me, I am a Christian And I believe In Waiting Till Marriage For Sexual Relations”- Lady informs intending suitors

A Nigerian lady, Adesekonge-Ire has informed intending suitors that she does not believe in sex before marriage.

“Before you DM me, I ‘m a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations. tnx” said Konge, who is proudly a Feminist.

Her tweet elicited comments from the men who said if she has to wait till marriage to have sex then she should also not ask for money before marriage.

Others questioned her feminist stance as according to them, a Christian shouldn’t be a Feminist.

Reacting to the comments, Konge urged women to try and be financially independent as apparently from the responses, men only give money to women in exchange for sex.

“The responses to that tweet proves that men only give money to women because they want sex in return. Women, wake up! Make your money so these men would know to have something better to offer in a relationship asides money. You are not a sex worker, stop giving sex for money.”

 

"Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors "Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors "Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors "Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors "Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors "Before you DM me, I am a Christian and I believe in waiting till marriage for sexual relations" - Nigerian lady informs intending suitors

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Women Affairs Minister, Pauline Tallen Tests Positive For COVID19

The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen has tested positive for the coronavirus disease.

She announced this in a statement she personally signed and released. She says she has gone into isolation and is receiving treatment.

Read the press statement from her below

”PRESS STATEMENT

Following interaction with individuals that later show asymptomatic sign of COVID19, I have been advised by my medical team to undergo the test and self isolate for observation over the past few days.

This is to inform the general public that after undergoing a test carried out on myself and members of my family, my result returned positive while that of members of my family tested negative.

Currently, I am asymptomatic and have gone into isolation during the period of treatment. Please keep me in your prayers and I implore you all stay safe and observe all COVID-19 protocols as we grapple with this pandemic.

I urge you all to please take responsibility for yourself and family in order to protect our dear country even more at this time.

Signed:

Dame Pauline K. Tallen OFR, KSG

Minister of Women Affairs

26th December 2020.”

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Lagos State Government Shut Landmark Event Centre And 11 Others For Violating COVID19 Protocols

The Lagos State government has shutdown Landmark Event Centre and 11 other facilities for violating COVID-19 protocols.

The facilities were shut down during an enforcement operation led by the Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola. The team was out in the state on routine enforcement and monitoring activities to enforce compliance with the government’s directive on COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it concerns social and recreational centers.

Some other facilities sealed are DNA Night Club, Buzz Bar, Silverfox, Cocoon, Westend Nightclub, Rumours, Lekki Waterside, Landmark Event Centre and The Wave Beach club.

According to Mojola, event centers that broke the government’s seal and continued partying would be charged to court once documentation had been properly processed. He said the government was committed to curbing the spread of the virus and would leave nothing to chance to achieve this mandate.

Nigeria is currently experiencing the second wave of COVID19.

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