What do you see?

Last weekend, I was in southern Vermont for a getaway with my husband. We decided to roam on Sunday afternoon and ended up driving through Bennington, where I took the picture above. The property actually had come up in a Google search for directions, and I was excited when we happened upon it in real life. (Not least because it bears a strong resemblance to the Creel house from the latest season of Stranger Things!)

Standing in front of it, taking the picture, and then looking at the picture afterwards, I began thinking about perspective. So I'll ask: What do you see when you look at this house?

On first glance, of course, you notice the rundown condition of the house. It's abandoned, fenced, mysterious. You could easily imagine it's a haunted house. You might consider it an eyesore, something to be torn down to beautify the block. If the history of it intrigued you, you might research it to find out more.

However, with a slight perspective shift, you could also see opportunity in it: What if it could be restored? It could become a museum and tell its own history, for example. Or it could be returned to use as an inn and become a gathering place again. An ambitious architect could take on a preservation project and create a fabulous single-family home or an arts center or a school.

Too often, we look at situations from only one perspective. A setback feels insurmountable. A loss or a rejection seems like the closing off of opportunities. But it's awfully rare in life that only a single outcome is inevitable. When we stop to reassess, we can find new angles and new opportunities in each moment.

So I'll ask again: What do you see here? And what opportunities are you overlooking in your own life?