I‘ve been thinking a lot about perspective lately. It started when I had a debate with a male friend about the Barbie movie. He saw the message of the movie
one way, I saw it another. I knew I would not be able to convince him to see it my way, and I also knew I would never switch to his. Our perspectives are different.
Then I went to a friend’s birthday party. She turned one hundred and two. 102! The best part is, she still lives alone (with the help of amazing neighbors) takes
no prescription medication, and has all of her mental faculties. Sure, you have to raise your voice a bit, and it’s best if you’re on her left side when talking to her,
but overall, she’s still got it all together. She’s pleasant, grateful, and gracious—she says, “Thank you, this is so good,” if you make her a sandwich for lunch. She’s
open-minded and kind, and also a little bit stubborn, and I like her very much.
I think about all the things that she has witnessed in her lifetime: the history, changes in technology, the expansion of the small California town she moved to in
1962. So when I saw her last week, we talked about her perspective. I asked her about what she thought about the way our world was progressing.
“There’s always going to be both good and bad in the world,” she told me. “It’s best if you seek out and focus on the good.” Now that’s a perspective I can support.