Changing The Lens Of Your Life Through Your Mindset

“We don’t see things as they are,

               We see them as we are.”

                                          – Anais Nin

The way we view life is through a lens of perspective, our mindset.

A change in my mindset, changed my entire life. A new perspective began to open every door I had believed didn’t exist or wasn’t possible for me. I had felt trapped, my mind had stealthily created barriers of limiting beliefs and destructive thoughts. I believed that life had handed me adverse circumstances, and in turn my conscious mind shut down. I was no longer in control. I had to have the reoccurring feelings that accompany such adversity. I had to be devastated, upset. Why me?

I was victim. Adversity became my identity.

I was damaged. Broken. I was __________ .

I allowed my mind’s rapid cynical thoughts to fill in the blanks.

That was the problem. I let overwhelming emotions silence my logical understanding. And I immersed myself in it, fully. Although, I think that is one of my better qualities. My ability to fully immerse myself. To feel wholeheartedly. These moments become so raw and real.

However, when you find yourself in a dark depression, it’s one of the worst qualities you can have. You find yourself in the deep end as you lose confidence in staying afloat, you begin to drown. And you let yourself drown, you allow it pull you under. Letting the depression be your only comfort at the bottom. In small attempts for a breath of air, you reach for easy comfort, quick fixes. Alcohol and affection that you believe will save you just long enough until the sun comes up again.

It’s easy to lose yourself here. To allow your bad habits to drift you away into a numbing sea of pain, floating through life just to see the next sunrise. But you are still lost out in sea, and I think it’s because we struggle to find our way back to a place that no longer exists. We are meant to find ourselves somewhere new, vibrant and beautiful. The place that we were meant to be. This requires change, perseverance, and resilience. It’s not always an easy path, but it is the most rewarding.

I lost myself for years, but I’m finding my way back. To me.

To who I am meant to be.

I’m only 21, yet I lived for many years inside the dark and unwelcoming confinements of my mind. I can still taste the painful tears that came like clockwork following my overwhelming thoughts, the moments I was losing my grasp on life. And today, this is no longer tragic to me. It’s dark and unsettling to some, but it’s those parts of me I see in myself today, pure and human, that shine an extraordinary light on life. At the time, I had an extremely foggy lens, dirtied by bad habits and an unhealthy mindset. It had been so difficult to see that I could not only clean it, but I could change it out for an entirely new one.

This saved my life.

Knowing that I had the choice to view life how I wanted to.

I no longer wanted to suffer. I no longer wanted to identify with my suffering and allow it to consume me. So I let it be. I let adversity, the suffering, the self-hate. I let it all just be. For what it was. I made a choice to adopt healthier thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. I chose to love myself, and I chose to forgive myself. And I am grateful. For this absurdly phenomenal gift. Life, perspective, mindset.

Our mindset has an amazing impact on our entire life. The way we face adversity, the way we can live at peace or at war with circumstances, the way we love or destroy ourselves and others. The most beautiful thing is that our mindset can be a choice.

How do you change your mindset?

Start reading. Articles. Books. Other view points.

Start talking to entirely new people.

Be open-minded.

Start exploring your own mindset, your current beliefs about who you are and the world around you. Start to test it, and see how easily you can bend and break the thoughts, beliefs, behaviors. Because we tend to identify ourselves and this world through “fixed” traits and abilities. We impose self-definitions and limitations because we want that sense of clarity, of reason. This type of mindset can hold you back in life, hindering your ability to grow.

“Oh no, I can’t do that because ………. (some reason that could easily be untrue).” We like to think that we are rational, capable of understanding and attaching meaning to things. But we need to start questioning. Everything. Ourselves.

I find some of my most joyous moments in curiosity. Exploring, learning, understanding. Testing my preconditioned thoughts, continuously. It’s quite an amazing ability we have, viewing life how we choose to. The only danger is if we stray too far from the truth. Always be open to new information, both good and bad. Begin to acknowledge that this life, this world, ourselves- is ever-changing. And it’s exciting, because it welcomes and embraces the opportunity of growth.

This life is a miracle, let your mindset be the proper lens to embrace it.

You may also like to read:

Tap Into Your True Identity

We derive an identity from our internal and external perception of the world, giving us a sense of permanence and stability. What is our true identity?