Perspective of an Eagle

Vacations can be fun but sometimes pull us away from things we love to do...like my blog! It is good to be back! Vacations also give us a time to reevaluate and consider our life "back home." I am not just speaking about the physicality of a residence, but the life that we lead when we are inhabiting that house we call home. I had a friend who once told me "If my husband had been vacation Joe all the time, we'd still be together." That says a lot about most of us; how we allow the stress of our daily lives to impact our perspective, our responses, and our reactions.

Our voice is often like a child, revealing to others our true perspective about any given situation. I remember my oldest son, as a child, was particularly verbal and outspoken and often asked, "Why is that lady so fat?" in the middle of a grocery store. Humiliating as it was, he was only curious and telling it like he saw it. As adults we rarely speak so honestly, but too often the things we say expose what is really lurking behind the sounds that come from our mouth. And those sounds, those words, that voice we use, begins with perspective.

Today I was asked to allow my perspective to be an eagle, sitting on a cliff, overlooking the landscape and taking in all the influences of any situation. Being an objective, eagle-lurking, detached human is not an easy thing to do. When asked to raise my perspective from the state of a rock, earthbound and stuck, to such an elevation, gave me permission to see how my own perspective often imprisons my responses (or should I say reactions) and keeps not only myself but others separated from any kind of real relationship with me. I want to, as the song sings to us, fly like an eagle, to be free. If I can give up my need to my opinion, my perspective, perhaps I will grow in a way that will give me peace and freedom. Opinions help guide us, but let them be the feathers in our wings and not cement weights that keep us limited and unhappy.