A man standing on top of a hill

How to Get Your Perspective Back on Track

/Updated /71 Comments/in /by Mary Hunt

These days, it’s easy to fall into the muck and mire of worry and defeat. Personal crises like a financial emergency, the loss of a job—or worse, your home—punctuated by the daily news can ruin your perspective and dump you into a pit of despair.

What you need to know today is that even when things seem completely hopeless, there’s always a way out. That’s not to say that you should slip into denial when bad things happen. But good things also happen.

A man standing on a rock

By learning how to control our thoughts and stepping back to see the bigger picture, we can climb out of that pit and into the sunshine of a new day. It’s all about learning how to get our perspective back on track.

Feelings are fickle

Our feelings cannot be trusted. They send messages to our brains that are not always reliable. Today, your emotions, like mine, may be all over the map. Instead of allowing our feelings to run the show, we need to take control by writing things down in clear, simple sentences. Acknowledge the facts. It is what it is—no better, but no worse, either. 

Allow yourself to mourn

The loss is real, so don’t deny it. Feel the hurt and the pain, but don’t stop there. Keep moving through it. And don’t beat yourself up if you need some help. Grief comes in many forms, and you may benefit from a qualified counselor to help you navigate through this period.

The future is better than you think

We’ve hit some bumps in the road. All of us are living through things we never dreamed would knock us off course like this. Even if you feel like you’ve lost everything, consider it a heartbreaking interruption on your journey. While things appear cloudy right now, you do have a bright future.

Dwell on the positive

The simple act of gratitude will change your perspective. Compared to about 95 percent of the people on this earth, you are wealthy and blessed with abundance. You may not have it all, but when you get right down to it, you do have enough. You’ve had a setback or two, but it’s not the end of the road. Failure is not the end unless you quit. We can’t allow one setback—or even a series of setbacks—to define us.

Don’t give up. Never, ever

No matter what. You know what they say about quitters: They never prosper. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Lift your head up high. What looks like darkness right now is just a cloud. Behind it, the sun is shining on the bright future!

 

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71 replies
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  1. Barbara says:

    Thanks, Mary, for all you do. I look forward to each post (email) and have found out so much from you. I send it on to my husband and daughter. You are an inspiration to all of us, but we do need to hear from you. Barbara

    Reply
  2. Michael says:

    Thank you Mary for this uplifting post. I am praying for all of us too. Especially I am thinking of those who are alone and our essential workers. God bless you all!
    We just got a coop and baby chicks. Just planted the veggie garden and so looking after them and watching the monarch caterpillars eat up the milkweed is filling my day. Thank you again.

    Reply
  3. Sharon Helsel in Michigan says:

    Thank you all for inspiring words-in the midst of today’s trials my husband of nearly 60 years received a serious cancer diagnosis. I am thankful we are near so many good medical personnel. God is always with us.

    Reply
  4. Lois Hunt says:

    Hey Mary
    One word: ZOOM Online video! I used to detest it but it has been a lifeline to my friends and my support/recovery groups. We even have a dinner date coming up where we all set it up and “share” a meal together! Not sure about that one though:) Thanks for all the great inspiration.

    Reply
  5. Pat says:

    Thank you, Mary, for helping us through the years and for these encouraging words. You are a blessing to many!
    God’s blessings to you and yours.

    Reply
  6. Kathy says:

    We are definitely all getting used to a new “normal.” Change is hard, but you have given us some great tools with which to work. We are all blessed, but when you don’t feel blessed, the best thing is to be a blessing to someone else. Thank you Mary, for being a blessing to me today! Romans 5:3 tells us that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. If our hope is in Christ, we have nothing to fear.

    Reply
  7. Jenny says:

    This is an inconvenience, but I refuse to panic. I have enough food, paper goods (yes, even toilet paper), a roof over my head and friends that call us (I am 81 and my husband is 85) to make sure we don’t need anything and I appreciate all that so much. Even though that knowledge helps me stay calm, what really easies my heart and mind is knowing that our Heavenly Father is watching over us….always has, always will. One of my Mother’s favorite sayings was, “If you worry, why pray….If you pray, why worry. —In God I trust; I will not be afraid.—Psalm 56:11

    Reply
  8. Maggie says:

    Heartfelt, honest and full of wisdom! Thanks for sharing YOUR gifts with us, Mary!! That’s why we are SO loyal as EC fans. Take care of YOUR heart! I agree that it is our little ones who may be the most shaken during these days. Perhaps that will be another post…..how we can nurture our little ones when they are at a distance. ???

    Reply
  9. Bonnie Smith says:

    Thank you, Mary, for helping to put this in perspective. And thanks to all who pray for first responders and medical personnel and others in essential positions. My son-in-law works in a grocery store; my granddaughter and her husband are pharmacists, one in a drugstore, the other in a hospital. I worry not for myself, but for them.

    Reply
  10. Jean says:

    Good stuff Mary. I’m blessed to live next door to my daughters family but they are feeling isolated too. I telephone myself older friends and those who live alone. My daughter and I have started sending cards to sick shut-Ins and people alone. Trying to comfort others makes me feel better too.

    Reply
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