The Shift: How Changing Your Perspective, Transforms Your Experience

Jan 12 / Lang Charters
I have a confession to make. There are several upcoming situations I’m a bit tied up in knots about. Family dynamics I fear will go south, valued personal time I imagine will be stolen, and new vocational endeavors I’m nervous won’t go well.

Can you relate?

While I was chatting with a friend about this predicament, she brought up one of Jesus’ more “interesting” teachings:

“’The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!’” (Matthew 6:22-23, NIV)

Which, brings me to having your eyes tested for a prescription.

In my experience at least, they have you look at the letters through a significant number of different lenses. Pairing them off, they ask me, “Are the characters clearer through the first lens, or the second lens?” After I answer, they repeat the process a good number of times, in order to determine the prescription for my glasses that will best serve me.

Each time I do this, different lenses yield a wide variety of diverse results. Some of them make things noticeably fuzzier, while others make my vision either a touch worse or better, and a select few bring things into significantly clearer focus.

A super cool thing about being human is—much like how prescription glasses alter the way we see the world—the perspective we choose to see a situation through, can dramatically shift how we experience, and thus respond to it.

I have a hunch this is what Jesus is getting at in Matthew 6. He’s naming how when we view something, whether it’s a person or situation, through a “dark” lens—anxiety, dread, suspicion, and their kin, grow inside of us. Meanwhile, when we choose to perceive the same thing through the “light”—peace, wisdom, harmony, love, and such, bloom within us.

A life coach I work with helped spark this shift within me regarding the family situation I was worried about, by simply asking me: “What could go well with them?” As I sat with this notion, and shared what came to mind, I instantly felt noticeably lighter and brighter; and began to really look forward to our time together.

I believe that’s because, when it comes to most any circumstance:

Without anything changing outside of us, a simple shift in perspective has the power to completely alter your inner experience of what is going on.

Consider hardships, for example.

I know a good number of people going through really rough times right now, and it breaks my heart. Having walked some wildly hard roads over the years myself (from divorce, to almost losing my life, to losing my career, to another divorce, to failing at a career I really wanted, to becoming disabled, and beyond), there’s a perspective shift I’d offer younger Lang.

Yes, this sucks. Honor that. Don’t ignore or shove it down. Accept and become curious about it, because this is also the fire of transformation. The flames of purification that burn away the dross, to more fully uncover The Beautiful Truth of Who I Am.

One of the things I love about the life coaching school I graduated from, is how iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) identifies seven different perspectives one can consciously approach any situation from. The key being to “step back” and mindfully choose which is, or are, the optimal fit for what is going on. (Note: iPEC calls these the “seven levels of energy”.)

I have been so taken with how empowering these ways of regarding and engaging things are, I created an upcoming online workshop through the Companioning Center titled, “Cultivating Self-Trust: A Journey into Awareness, Embodiment, and Empowerment”, to help people explore these perspectives via embodied movement.

I bring this up not to promote my event (though I’d love to see you there), but for one simple reason. There’s a world of difference between a professional sports team coach simply telling their players to go win a game. Versus said coach giving them the specific plays that will help them win the game. Likewise, while it would be somewhat helpful for me to tell you: Your perspective powerfully affects your experience of a situation, so pick a good one! I believe it’s much more empowering to give you seven specific perspectives to choose from. Do you know what I mean?

These ways of seeing and being, are like plays in an NFL coach’s playbook. Akin to the options a coach has to choose from, each perspective has its pros and cons, and fits certain circumstances better than others. What is more, some are more broadly applicable, while others are tailored to more select instances.

With that in mind, here is the way I name each of the seven perspectives. (I did my best to capture both the benefit and drawback of each in one word, using a “Pro/Con” format):

1) Supported/Victim

2) Activist/Antagonist

3) Reliable/Rationalizer

4) Nurturer/Martyr

5) Visionary/Overthinker

6) Unifier/Impulsive

7) Creator/Dissociated

With these options at your fingertips, I invite you to bring something you are dealing with to mind, however big or small.

Then, slowly reread the list, and do your best to feel in your body how they do or don’t fit the situation. As well as what they shift inside of you. (And please feel free to put this aside for a bit, and come back to it a little later … or even repeatedly)

After that, take a moment to reflect on a few simple questions:

What did you notice?

What does or doesn’t fit?

How would a perspective change shift your experience of the scenario?

How do you see this playbook of perspectives fitting other situations?

Hugs & Love,
Lang
Lang Charters
Lang Charters is a life coach, soul care companion, yoga teacher, writer, husband, father, and lover of life. His calling is to help people flourish in the here and now. To aid him in this endeavor, Lang received his Master of Divinity from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Doctorate of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary, Spiritual Direction certification from George Fox University, and Life Coach Certification from the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).

Lang’s passion is to help you ride the upward spiral of love. A deep love for yourself, others, life, and something greater. When things fell apart in his life—he’s gone through two heart-shredding divorces, and should have died from a freak hiking accident—Lang discovered loving kindness is not only the energy that heals and puts us back together, it’s the spirit that transforms us into the best version of ourselves!

In soul care and life coaching, Lang loves to walk alongside people as they navigate transitions and disruptions. He also specializes in helping them uncover greater purpose and passion in any area—or all of—their life.

While Lang currently lives in Sicily with his wife Lisa, he will always be a Washingtonian, devoted 12th man, and True to the Blue!

For more information about Lang, check out https://lightlovelang.offeringtree.com.

If you’re interested in more of his writing, you can find him at Light and Love with Lang on Substack.