What Are You Looking At?

I love this question.

Why?

Because the question leads me to not just be aware of what I'm looking at, but in what type of frame am I looking through.

Frame?

I don't know if you know this, Ray, but I don't wear glasses. 

I'm not talking about glasses.

I'm talking about what is the perspective that you're choosing to see the world through. 

Frames - get it?

I'm talking about your ability to see the world from ANY perspective you want. 

When you're walking down the street and you look across and see an older woman walking her dog, yes, we can agree that there is an older woman walking her dog.  

But what do you see behind/through the facts of what you're seeing?

Do you see a woman who loves life, loves spending time with her dog and is out to breathe in every moment she has?

Or, do you see a woman who appears to you to be going through the motions, is taking her dog for a walk because you perceive the dog needs to be walked in order to be better behaved?

Do you see her as a broken, financially-strapped soul who, because of her slight limp, you think she can't afford to get her leg fixed?

Do you see that the possibilities of what you choose to see are endless?

This is the magic of the question.

I can choose to see an older woman celebrating life, honoring the fact that she has an animal that she loves and enjoys the companionship and responsibility of caring for her pet. I can choose to see her as someone who has lived a rich, full life, and has loved every minute of it.

Can I prove this?

No.

Am I lying?

Maybe, but maybe not.

Let me ask another question.

Consider the view I just posed in how I might see the woman.

Compare that view with a view that sees her as poor, broken, lonely, and hating life.

What good does that view do for me?

For her?

Heck, for the world?

It doesn't.

When we choose to see the world from a positive, uplifting, inspiring, and enjoyable viewpoint, it changes our biology by affecting our moods.  

And you do know that your moods can control a lot about how you see and interface with the world.

I just want you to consider the question posed in the title and think about possibly choosing to look through frames that see the world in a new and wonderful way.

I choose to see you as amazing... regardless if I've never met you.

What do you think about that? ;-)