KEEPING YOUR PERSPECTIVE

DR. BUD LEIKVOLL MA, LPC, LISACAND LEE MCFARLAND

Keeping Your Perspective

In the Bible, in Genesis 42, Jacob is surveying his current situation.

Jacob truly believes he is about to lose yet two more sons to death.

He believes he can see what is happening to him. He summarizes

his predicament in verse 35 with these words:

Keeping Your Perspective

And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and

you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me.”

Genesis 42:35

Keeping Your Perspective

Nothing could have been further from the truth!

- Joseph was not dead – he was the Prime Minister

- Simeon was in the loving care of his brother Joseph

- Benjamin was being treated like royalty by Joseph

Jacob says, “All these things are against me!”

WRONG!

Keeping Your Perspective

“For we walk by faith,

not by sight.”

2 Cor. 5:7

Keeping Your Perspective

When you go through the storms of life, getting

God’s Perspective

on the problem will

help you regain peace.

Keeping Your Perspective

“He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep, to

gain what he cannot lose.”

Keeping Your Perspective

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any

other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is

in Christ Jesus our Lord."

(Romans 8:38-39)

Keeping Your Perspective

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being

renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory

far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but

the things which are not seen are eternal.”

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Left vs Right Hemisphere

sees the trees sees the trees

left side left side

right side right side

sees the forest sees the forest

Keeping Your Perspective

Definition of Perspective How do we see things How do our brains work What can we can do to change the way

we see things? How can we keep a good perspective? Perspective – proof through pictures

Perspective Defined Literally, in visual topics Perspective (visual), the way in which objects appear to the eye. Perspective (graphical), representing the effects of visual

perspective in graphic arts

Metaphorically, in relation to cognitive topics Perspective (cognitive), one's "point of view", the choice of a

context for opinions, beliefs and experiences Point of view (literature), the related experience of the narrator Perspective (psychological), or wisdom

Mathematics Perspective (geometry), a property of triangles

Keeping Your Perspective

"Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

(Psalm 30:5)

What is Perspective?

Perspective - What we see both emotionally and physically

Our perspective drives our sense of being safe or unsafe

Our perspective comes from our sense of past experiences

It involves the “amygdala”

Keeping Your Perspective

In each of our hemisphere’s in our brain we see different things

The side we use most will determine how much of that side will effect our ability to be calm and see the full picture.

We need to see both the close view and the full distant view.

Left Hemisphere

logical

precise

details (sees the trees)

communicates

concerned about time

happier, more positive

doesn’t see problems

Right Hemisphere

big picture, sees the forest

creative, artistic

can put a room together (decorates)

anxious, fearful, negative

focuses on problems

admits to problems

operates on hunches

Keeping Your Perspective

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and

petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of

God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts

and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

(Philip. 4:6-7)

Keeping Your Perspective

Shopping shows differences between Men and Women: Men in their left hemisphere view of

shopping will go, get it and be done. Women because of their right

hemisphere view of shopping will see more things of interest and will need to check them out.

What does this look like?

Keeping Your Perspective

Our EXPERIENCES will effect how we will see the big picture

A postman who sees a ceramic dog might have a fear response more than the average person. Why?

FEARFUL experiences!

Keeping Your Perspective

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.

(1 John 4:17-19)

Hormones effect positive thinking Adrenaline, Catecholamine and Cortisol Epinephrine. A hormone secreted by the

medulla of the adrenal gland, especially in times of stress or in response to fright or shock. Its main actions are to increase blood pressure and to mobilize tissue reserves of glucose (leading to an increase in the blood glucose concentration) and fat, in preparation for flight or fight. Derived from the amino acids, phenylalanine or tyrosine.

The Storms Of Our Lives

Keeping Your Perspective

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

What Do You See?

Keeping Your Perspective

Our Perspective determines our Attitude Our Attitude determines our Behavior Our Behavior determines Consequences

Keeping Your Perspective

Look at the complete picture

PERSPECTIVEILLUSIONS

Believe it or not, these lines are straight and parallel.

Another "false spiral" -- actually a series of concentric circles, hard as it may be to believe. To prove that there's no spiral, try tracing your finger around one of the circles. You'll see that it never moves inward or outward.

Can you tell which of these cars is the largest?

Believe it or not, the right most car is the largest. Our brain is wired to take perspective into account, hence the common perception that the leftmost car is larger.

What appears to be a huge chasm in the middle of the street...

...Is actually a street painting, seen here in mid-creation.

Which square is a lighter shade, A or B?

Taken out of context, you can see A and B are the same shade. Our familiarity with light and shadow tricks us into thinking B is "actually" lighter than A.

Which of these two dots is in the true center of the circle?

With the distracting lines out of the way, it's apparent that the green dot is at the center.

The two birds in this image are identical. Not just in size and shape, but in color too.

Check out the same image with the background removed.

Are the walls of this house facing outward, or inward?

Depends on how you look at it. If you isolate the top portion of the image, the house appears to be concave, facing inward. Isolate the bottom, and the perspective is reversed.

A variation on a classic illusion, this cat can be perceived as rotating in either direction. With practice, you can make it switch at will!

Here's a simple one. Are these two rows of squares perfectly parallel?

They are indeed perfectly parallel, which becomes more apparent when the line between them is highlighted.

Can you tell where on this curve the lines are the longest, and where they are the shortest?

They are all the same length.

Can you unweave this web and find the hidden word within it?

A little color-coding helps to reveal the truth.

Believe it or not, this image is not animated. The effect persists only in your peripheral vision; if you focus on any one of the spirals, it will stop moving.