Everyone has a unique perspective on the world. It’s a perspective that we developed based on our background conditioning. Our conditioning comes from what we’ve been taught and what we’ve experienced, and the emotions and meanings we’ve attached to lessons and experiences.
For example, if you grew up poor, you may have grown up believing that wealthy people are evil and greedy. This would have given you a perspective that is completely different from someone who is a hard-working, generous, self-made millionaire who is intent that every dollar goes to making the world a better place.
For every single person alive, there is a unique perspective on the same event! Even if people agree that “it is this way” they still look at the event based on their own background - this gives the event a unique twist that only they are aware of. It is very difficult to be objective enough to truly put on the other person’s shoes and see things from their point of view. This is the root cause of all human misunderstandings and disagreements.
Meditation can help you become more open to alternative points of view. This will make you more able to negotiate and compromise, and in the end accomplish far more than someone who is stuck believing “this is the way things are” and refusing to compromise or work with someone whose perspective is different - the unproductive “my way of the highway” approach.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has conducted or evaluated several studies, with the conclusion that meditation relaxes the amygdala (a part of the brain responsible for the “fight or flight” response) and increases activity in the prefrontal cortext, which is slower to respond to a situation but makes us stop and think about a situation (the inhibitory center of the brain).
While we are under stress, the amygdala rules - we make snap decisions based on emotion. But during meditation, we become open to alternatives, simply by “stopping and thinking” about things and being open to alternatives.
Seeing things with a fresh perspective helps solve problems, improve job performance, promote personal growth, repair failing relationships, deal with past issues and make insurmountable obstacles seem much less daunting as you work on your goals.
Meditation brings you into a very deep, relaxed state where the mind’s incessant “this is the way things are” chatter stops. Only when this happens, can alternative perspectives be seen and accepted.
Learning to listen to intuitive guidance will quickly give you fresh perspectives that would have otherwise been rejected as ridiculous, had you not quieted your mind’s insistence about the way you perceive the world. Once you can accept that your point of view is not the only point of view, you can also accept that it is not the only right point of view.
Acceptance that your point of view is but one of many, is truly liberating. This opens up a world of possibility! You will no longer automatically reject alternative points of view just because they’re different from your own.
A simple shift in perception allows a bad situation to become good - you learn to see the silver lining, and to see the gift in every struggle or heartbreak. This brings about profound inner peace, and an ability to experience the world in a far richer way than if you remained stuck believing “this is how things are.”
Meditate daily to develop the ability to perceive from many different perspectives. You will find answers to your questions, solutions to your problems, and appreciation for life that may have been missing before.
