A Matter Of Perspective

I recently came across this piece (I don’t think it could be correctly classified as poetry, but it is sort of), written by Abdullah Shoaib, and it got me thinking how things can appear to be so different depending to how we perceive them.

I’m very ugly

So don’t try to convince me that

I am a very beautiful person

Because at the end of the day

I hate myself in every single way

And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying

There is beauty inside of me that matters

So rest assured I will remind myself

That I am a worthless, terrible person

And nothing you say will make me believe

I still deserve love

Because no matter what

I am not good enough to be loved

And I am in no position to believe that

Beauty does exist within me

Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think

Am I as ugly as people say?

(Now read it again, beginning with the bottom line and moving up)

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah (2014)

Around the world there are many places that have awe-inspiring landscape.  The photo above was taken early one evening at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah in 2014.   There were no other people around and you can get a sense of the scale of the place by looking at the trees in the foreground. 

Standing there before such grandeur, in the intense quiet and isolation, it was easy to see how one could feel very small and alone and even a little frightened, but one could just as easily feel a sense of wonder and of being at peace with nature, marveling at the beauty of it all.  It all depends on how you view it, because the scene does not change – only we do.

It is said that there are always two sides to every story, and there is usually at least two opposing ways we can view anything that happens in our lives.  It is our choice which we choose.

Margaret.