Twice each summer, the setting sun lines up with the street grid of Manhattan so that it appears to drop perfectly between the buildings as one looks west on any street above Fourteenth. On the appointed day in early June, I joined a small crowd gathered in Union Square. This is an ideal viewing point because it straddles a number of east/west streets and provides a safe place to gaze west through the canyon created by the buildings and view the setting sun without being threatened by cars.
We were an odd group, curiously quiet in the midst of the urban chaos. A young girl approached to see what was going on. She looked in the direction we looked but saw nothing out of the ordinary: a small crew was cleaning up garbage left behind from that day’s Greenmarket. Confused, the girl looked back at us then looked again. Finding nothing remarkable, she asked, “What’s everybody looking at?”
“The sunset,” I answered. “Twice a year it sets between the buildings.” She turned west again, and looked into the distance. Her face lit up as she saw the beauty of nature intersecting with urban life. It was only when she shifted her perspective that she was able to see something uniquely beautiful.
In order to see the beauty around us, we sometimes need to shift our perspective. What is in your life that would be better viewed from another perspective? For example, is a difficult job really an opportunity to build better skills?
When are you seeing only the garbage in the immediate future instead of the beauty of the setting sun on the horizon?
"Shifting Your Perspective" is just one of the steps in the coaching process. For a free half hour of live, one-on-one coaching, click here to contact Dawn.
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet." - Frederick Buechner Questions or comments? Click here.
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