Chapter Two
What a Benefical Perspective Is
Part 1: The Explanation
A BENEFICIAL PERSPECTIVE is a helpful outlook. It's based on the concept that you influence most of the types of situations you experience in your life by way of your decisions.
The Goals:
- To recognize your ability to influence the types of situations you experience
- To minimize the occurrence of undesirable situations
- To effectively deal with any that do arise
- To live life experiencing: as few undesirable situations as possible and as many favorable situations as possible.
The Ideas:
You are only responsible for yourself and your minor children (if applicable).
You have the right to make your own decisions regarding your thoughts, actions and comments.
You have the potential to positively or negatively influence many of the situations you experience in your life.
The situations you experience evolve from one or more of a few potential factors:
- Predetermined circumstances
- Acts of nature
- Results of your own decisions, actions or comments
- Results of other people's decisions, actions or comments
Each of these factors can sometimes be:
- Completely out of your control (and other times can be...)
- Controlled, or at least influenced, by you
The Process:
- Recognize and positively affect what you can influence (and)
- Recognize, accept and effectively deal with what is out of your control
- Influence predetermined factors when possible
- Influence the impact acts of nature have on your life
- Influence your decisions when possible (When is that not possible?)
- Influence some of other people's decisions when appropriate and possible
Part 2 : Some Examples
The situations you experience evolve from one or more of the following factors. They may be results of:
Predetermined factors:
- Which are partly out of your control
Example Your genes / your body
- And partly able to be influenced by you
Example You can affect the condition of your body with your diet and exercise habits.
Acts of nature:
- Which are partly out of your control
Example The occurrence of earthquakes, floods, mudslides, tornados, etc.
- And partly able to be influenced by you
Example By choosing whether or not you live in areas prone to such disasters, you can influence the impact they have on your life.
Your decisions:
Limits of your options in a decision
- Are sometimes out of your control
Example Limits of your intellectual or physical capabilities.
- You can sometimes influence
Example Putting money in savings often results in having more possible options to choose from to resolve a problem.
- Choosing from the options available to you in any situation is sometimes out of your control
Example Being in a coma
- You almost always control the decisions you make from the options that are available to you.
Example Even if someone puts a gun to your head, you still have options. They may not be very appealing ones, but you do have options to choose from.
Other people's decisions:
- Some of which are out of your control
Example The owner of a company wants the person who manages his business to be someone who will advance his company.
- Some of which you can influence
Example You may be able to persuade the owner of a company that you are the best person to effectively run his company.