Perspective

Whilst out on my wellbeing walk this morning, I stepped in a huge pile of manure! After my initial frustrations and thoughts about why it was even there, it made me think…when looking at the world through only our own lens, it’s easy to see manure as smelly waste, with no purpose and something to avoid. However, when we look at it through a wider lens, we can easily see what positive purpose manure has. Crops in fields grow more due to the fertilisation of manure, which enables food to be produced for consumption. Manure can also produce the by-product methane, which can be used as fuel for cooking or heating. If you only see the negative when looking at manure, we cannot produce the soil that it helps aerate and subsequently the crops.

When we see someone in our community who doesn’t seem to meet our needs or expectations, or perhaps somebody who is isolated, or marginalised, they can often be perceived in a certain way. However, if we dig a little further, look at that person through a wider lens, we can quickly unearth their unique qualities and attributes. Spending a bit of time with people who we may otherwise judge or don’t easily understand, can really enable us all to see a different picture. Often, they have been judged and cast aside many times so taking a different approach can help identify talents, support aspirations and in turn improve people’s self-worth.

When looking around this week, let’s try to make a conscious effort to see past stereotypes and look at the bigger picture.