Perspective Keeper

By MARY GEISEN

I dabble in photography for fun. One look through a lens and I see a story unfolding before me. The chance to capture color, detail, and the unique beauty of what the camera expresses allows me to look at things from many different angles. It’s an opportunity to look at one object or point on the horizon and change the light to see the same shot from a different perspective. You might call me a perspective keeper when I hold my camera up to create a new thing.

It’s the same in my daily life. I make a choice every day to choose a perspective of joy or despair. Put more simply, I can rephrase that  to say I can choose to look at each day as a “have to” or a “get to.” Just like a photographer changes the shutter speed, the amount of light, or whether to zoom in or out, I can do the same with my perspective when I begin my day.

I’m not sure who first described the perspective switch between “have to” and “get to”, but it has led me to pause before looking at the day ahead as a burden. For years, I woke up daily and prepared to teach. During most of those thirty years, I would tell anyone who asked that I have to teach or I have to work. I forgot how to acknowledge the gift of having a job. Instead, of starting my day with gratitude, I took on the burden of what I had to do.

Well, I’ve tried the “get to” perspective now, and the last few years have been a game changer for me. I no longer dread the coming day, but look forward with gratitude and expectancy. Each morning as I wake up, I thank God for the gift of a new day. I run through the upcoming schedule in my head knowing I “get to” enjoy what’s next because God gifted me with another day. I’m not perfect at this new point of view, but my job as perspective keeper is more fun because I’m highlighting the positive of what is to come.