a different perspective

Ben Grant is an author and responsible for the Daily Overview, an Instagram account which started by showing aerial photographs of different places around the planet. The pictures are stunning on so many levels, and above all else because of the perspective from which the pictures are taken, shedding new light on, and new understanding of, our world.

And perspective can play such an important role in each of our lives. It is easy to get caught up in our own models of the world, dividing life and experiences up into good, bad and indifferent, and a whole other range of terms and classifications. And, how often do we take the time to consider how that world looks through the eyes of another? What are we missing by only considering our own perspective? What might we want to do differently if we could take ourselves out of our own shoes and stand in someone else’s?

Just for a moment, then, take a step back. Think about a decision you recently made. Review that decision and ask yourself what others would have made of it. Put yourself in their shoes. Be bold. Challenge the decision from the perspectives of your best friend and your worst enemy. From your favourite superhero and your lifelong hero. From yourself ten years ago and ten years from now. What would you do the same? And what would you do differently? And deep down, had you done this prior to making the decision, you know that you would have done something differently, wouldn’t you?