Seeing things differently
It’s too cold.
Really? I am sweating!
Just like different bodies experience temperatures in different ways, people’s minds experience situations in varied manners.
Most of us are aware of the classic, “glass half full/ half empty” example for optimistic vs pessimistic thinking but that’s just two of the perspectives.
I would say that there are as many perspectives on this earth as people. All unique.?
Given that so many different POVs exist, it is obvious that some are more aligned than others, some are conflicting while others are just different. One thing that is true for all is “they are all valid.”
Viewing a situation from someone else’s perspective can help you understand their behaviour and manage your responses accordingly.
Imagine a situation where your friend was anxious about an exam. During the exam, he blacked out. As a way out, he copied the answers of the person sitting ahead of him.
You simply hate cheating. When your friend told you about this experience, you yelled at him.
Imagine if you were in their situation. When you do this, you might say “even if I blacked out, I would have never resorted to cheating” but go deeper than this.?
Try to imagine you did cheat, just like your friend, now try and see, what could have been the possible reasons that made you cheat.
Slowly but surely, you will gain some perspective as to why your friend did what he did. This helps you rephrase your interaction. Maybe, you could talk to your friend about your reservations about cheating and your concern for him instead of yelling at him.
This is what perspective-taking looks like. It’s not agreeing with others but just an attempt to understand their cognitions and emotions so as to become more sensitive to the scenario.
Perspective-taking is a hard skill to teach to adults since we have already acquired our collection of biases, opinions, stereotypes and beliefs. It requires a conscious effort and motivation to learn perspective-taking.
So kindly, expand your vision, and try to view things differently.?