By Chrissie Van Wormer
I woke up this morning feeling the residual effects of a crummy yesterday. It was difficult to get out of bed and my eyes were blurry but Hannah and Leroy, my canine companions, needed to go outside and Trix, my twenty four pound cat was meowing his displeasure at an empty dish. Even Pixie, my little yellow parakeet, joined in the cacophony chirping loudly at the morning sun that was now blaring through the back door.
I woke up this morning feeling the residual effects of a crummy yesterday. It was difficult to get out of bed and my eyes were blurry but Hannah and Leroy, my canine companions, needed to go outside and Trix, my twenty four pound cat was meowing his displeasure at an empty dish. Even Pixie, my little yellow parakeet, joined in the cacophony chirping loudly at the morning sun that was now blaring through the back door.
I considered not taking my usual early morning walk because it was already after 6:00 and I needed to get to work to try and clean up yesterday’s mess. I looked around the kitchen that I hadn’t picked up after dinner last night and sighed. Leroy, my mini-pin/greyhound mix came running in through the deck, bolted to the cellar door to begin his usual bounding up and down wanting to go out for a walk. Hannah, now fourteen years old and very gray, joined in the excitement, so I reluctantly headed into my bedroom and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. I grabbed their leashes, my sunglasses and off we went. During the first two miles my mind sifted through the events of yesterday. I reminded myself that I am the only one who has control over how I react to any situation and repeated the mantra several times to solidify it in my mind for the day. I was careful to take a few minutes to notice that the sun was playing on the pavement and the breeze that was deliciously cool.
As I crested the very steep hill that brings me in view of my house, Leroy tripped me and I found myself grappling to regain my balance. In the process, my shoe came untied. I have to admit; I cursed, and then bent down to secure the shoe. As I pulled the strings into a double bow, I glanced toward the sound of a cricket in the grass. It was weird, but suddenly, I saw that summer field from the perspective of Leroy and Hannah. Much closer to the ground than I, they have the opportunity to see so many details of the landscape; each blade of grass, each flower stem, a small spider web wet with dew. They are also much closer to the enticing scent of whatever creature had just crawled across the back country road just before we came over that hill and they continued to investigate with much snorting and sniffing. I sat down on the blacktop for a minute and just stared at the scenery, taking it in as though it were something I’d never seen before. Of course I was seeing it every day; just from a different perspective. The thought made me smile.
This was answer that I had been looking for. Every now and again it is necessary to look at things from a different perspective. As small business people, sometimes we forget to stop and look at things from the perspective of our clients. And many times our clients forget to look at things from the perspective of their clients. And so it goes. If you’re reading this today, take a moment and think about a challenge you’re facing in with your business. Maybe it’s time to try something new. Ask your client what you can do to help. Try to see the challenge from their perspective and attack it that way. I can guarantee you, if nothing else, you’ll definitely be seeing both the forest AND the trees. And don’t forget to take a minute, get down on the grass and check out that particular perspective. It’s really quite beautiful!
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