Look up for a change 1

Stars don’t beg the world for attention; their beauty forces us to look up.

Jordan Hoechlin

There’s something about looking up and out to the world around us that changes our internal perspective.

I remember a moment when I was driving across a freeway overpass with my daughter, when she was about 3. As she looked up towards the Perth hills and down to the traffic below, she said, “Mummy look, I can see the WHOLE world!”

We live in a flat part of the city, so this outlook was new and exciting for her. I smiled at the way she’d interpreted this view and made a mental note to get out more! But what I loved the most was how this change in view had made a new connection in her brain. One that took her breath away.

I regularly find that my perspective changes when I take time to look up and out around me.

I think of times I’ve been on a plane and looked out towards the clouds. Petty issues that loomed large in my mind before take-off start to drop away, and I find myself seeing the bigger picture view of my life.

I remember times I’ve looked up to the night sky and taken in the vastness of the Milky Way. I’ve felt so tiny, yet also a reassuring sense that the God who created the universe still sees me and cares for me.

Whenever I look up to the hills or see mountains I’m reminded that life is a journey. It’s filled with ups and downs and everything in between, but we need to keep travelling. We need to keep dreaming, keep exploring, keep contributing and keep believing that the best days are ahead.

Without a change in view, my mind gets stuck in ‘flat suburban thinking’ where I can’t see the wood for the trees.

So I’ll keep looking up and out for a fresh perspective.

What about you? Do you make time to look up? To the sunset, to the blue sky, to the hills. To any place that takes your breath away and reminds you of what’s true.

Bridget