The importance of paradigm shifts for making life changes
Our paradigm is what creates our reality. We can perceive a glass as half full or half empty. Both perspectives would be technically correct but each perspective has very different implications on how we feel about our situations, and can thus illicit a chain of events that look drastically different. The person who sees the glass as half full might feel grateful, lucky, wealthy and thus be happier, feel more content with his life situation, or might be more likely to be generous with friends and family. His life would look different than the person who sees the glass as half empty and might feel discouraged, slighted, bitter, or discontented with life. This man might be more likely to be unhappy, act out of fear, or envy of what others have. The interesting thing is, there is the same amount in each person’s glass, but because of their perspective and interpretation of the amount in the glass, their lives take very different turns.
We are all looking at, perceiving, and interpreting life through a lens, a paradigm, and that paradigm creates our sense of reality. If we want something to change in life, usually it requires some type of a paradigm shift. I think where we can get caught up is in believing that if we need to change our paradigm, then it means we have been “wrong” in some way, when truly, any new change we want in life, requires some type of paradigm shift to get it. The shame of feeling as though we would be admitting we’ve been wrong if we do try to change our paradigm can prevent people from being open to that change. Everything I want, but don’t have in life, requires me to make some type of change in order to get it. It doesn’t mean I was doing something wrong, it just means I am now ready for different results, and thus must do things differently to encourage those results.
Sometimes, it takes a mentor, or a guide who sees the glass as half-full to support the person who sees the glass as half-empty to understand how to view the glass differently. Sometimes it takes the glass-empty person to begin to want a different reality and then to seek the information on how to create that reality to prompt the change. The first step is desire for something different followed by the reflection and awareness of how your thoughts support your current reality. Once you become aware of some of the thoughts that support your current reality, you can begin to search or answers or support in how to change these thoughts. There is no better time than now to begin making those changes so that you emerge on the other side having transformed in some way.