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  • Michael Edmondson

How often do you change your perspective?


Today is December 7 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you change your perspective in order to better understand your voice?

People who navigate the chaos often engage in challenges that will help them change their perspective.

As David McCullough Jr. said in a now famous commencement speech: “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”

This change of perspective is an absolute necessity during those times in life when people provide unsolicited advice.

Changing perspective will provide a much-needed sense of direction amidst the chaos. In her poem The Journey, poet Mary Oliver wrote about the need to stay true to your own voice “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice…little by little, as you left their voice behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do -- determined to save the only life that you could save.”

How often do you climb the mountain to change your perspective and not so the world can see you?”

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