When the road to change seems full of roadblocks, adopt a different perspective.
Just like a photographer circling his subject to find her best side, just like a writer looking for the revelation of something strikingly original and true, to reach awareness, look at things from a different angle. Ask the right questions.
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in what we want to become, that we forget who we want to become – or even who we are and why we are here.
I think the who is much more important than the what. Who is the subject, what is the object. Do we really want to be objects? (And yes, you see, grammar does help later in life…)
What you are is a label glued on your exterior, a tag on a product up for sale, a business card, a title that is yours today and might become somebody else’s tomorrow. Who you are is personal and true, it is in-depth and unique. It is that distinctive, non-interchangeable combination of traits and values which gives you authenticity, direction, a purpose on the planet, and which nobody can take away from you.
Too obsessed with the what you no longer have time for the who-s around you. Drowning in your self-centered or job-related cognitive processes, you no longer have resources for empathy and giving.
To find meaning, sometimes all it takes is to change the angle and ask the right questions.
PS: A couple of days after publishing this post, I came across this article in the New York Times. Really worth the read!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/arthur-c-brooks-love-people-not-pleasure.html