by Dina D Edwards

Created on: April 22, 2010   Last Updated: April 26, 2010

Perspective is something fluid, not fixed. Every individual has a different way of looking at things, which changes and evolves with time. Sometimes it can be useful to try and look at things from different perspectives rather than getting stuck in one rigid way of seeing the world. Albert Einstein said, "when you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about." Having a sense of perspective is about being able to see where you fit into the larger whole.

Sometimes, if you want a change of perspective, a physical change in location is needed. I used to go to an all girls school, where how you looked and how much you weighed was everything. It wasn't until I left that school and went to a mixed sixth form that I began to see things differently. Physical appearance, although still considered important, was seen as being less of a big deal. Certain environments tend to encourage certain attitudes and behaviours, which aren't necessarily healthy. Even having a weekend away or a short holiday can be enough to look at your life from a fresh perspective. But there are also more radical steps that can be taken in order to see things in a new light. A change of career or volunteering abroad are both great eye-openers. Experiencing a new culture and way of life would open you up to a different way of viewing things, forcing you to reconsider your previous beliefs and assumptions.

A less demanding way of maintaining a balanced outlook is to use humour to diffuse situations. It is often said that there is nothing that can't be laughed at. Sometimes it is useful, and even liberating, to forgot our pretensions and just laugh at ourselves. When you look at the material that stand-up comedians use a lot of it is about quite serious issues: marriage breakdown, political corruption, injustice. This suggests that laughter isn't just lighthearted, it is in fact something much more profound. Being able to laugh at yourself and life in general stops you taking things too seriously as it forces you to look at things from a different, more relaxed, point of view.

In certain situations it is difficult to keep things in perspective. For example, if you've suddenly become incredibly successful in your chosen career, then the attention and money can distort your outlook. This is particularly true of child stars whose celebrity distances themselves from normal everyday life and a solid set of values. It is important to bear in mind that however well, or badly, your life is going, it is unlikely to stay that way forever. Not getting too comfortable if you're successful or too despairing if you things don't work out is important because things are constantly evolving and changing.

However, it is easy to talk about keeping a sense of perspective in a theoretical context. In the heat of the moment, it is far harder to control the tendency to blow things out of proportion and worry. Sometimes it is difficult to know how to react to an event, so it might be worth delaying your response until the emotions have died down a bit. You can then look on the situation from different angles and judge what is going on in a calm manner.

Having a sense of perspective is about attributing things their due importance. Not getting too bogged down by insignificant day to day concerns and keeping in sight the things that do really matter in life. It's about realising that there are many different ways of viewing things, not just one. It's about acknowledging that the world is a huge place, and that each one of us makes a little bit of a much larger whole.

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