This might seem slightly random, but the other day, I found myself in deep thought. Thinking about and trying to figure out situations and their solutions. While fully consumed in thought, I caught a moment to glance at my fingers and soon found myself drawing analogies to my hands. I thought to myself, if my hands were symbolic of a situation and my fingers, the solution, then wouldn’t that mean that each situation could have five completely different outcomes, absolutely unrelated to each other? What a fascinating observation!

For a moment, I was quite stunned at my personal change in perspective. I believe we often become too focused on a particular outcome when we analyze a situation. And more often than not, we believe the outcome we have chosen is the only way to go. While that may be one of the consequences of your decisions, it doesn’t imply that your decision is only limited to one outcome. Just like fingers in our hands, neither one measures the same. They’re all different shapes and sizes and funnily enough, they all have a different purpose and meaning too! So, if something so small and insignificant can hold such valuable insight, it is about time we use our minds to open ourselves up to different possibilities.

To explain this to you a little better, I have an example. My father was diagnosed with some disease when he was only 18 years old. At the time, he visited a doctor who prescribed him anti-biotics. When writing the prescription, he clearly told my father that he was only meant to take these medications for a week. When he didn’t make full recovery within a week, he continued taking this anti-biotics and unfortunately became completely hooked onto the drug. While he tried to give it up numerous times, he just wasn’t able to. He even considered different options, treatments and consulted various doctors. It wasn’t until he was 45 that someone told him about acupressure treatment. With his willingness and determination to find a cure, he attempted it. The doctors who were helping him with the process also guided him with his change in diet and routine and now, 6 months down the line, he is on absolutely no steroids at all! Can you believe that?

The point I’m trying to make here is, you are only as limited as your thoughts are. The more you are willing to look at things differently, the more differently they will appear. A lot of our restrictions and inabilities stem from our mindset. If we were to think more positively and be welcoming of new, unfamiliar changes in our lifestyle, decisions, problems and more, we would be more capable of viewing each situation more clearly, with a fresh pair of eyes. Our perspective truly does determine how our life pans out, be sure to be more open and take risks every now and then. You have no idea what awaits you outside your comfort zone!