What life lens do you choose to use?

When you have your eye exams you realize how important it is to have the correct eyeglass lens to see well, but do you also realize how important it is to have the correct attitude lens to look at life? We call the attitude lens a “life lens” because it contributes to how we see life and influences our feelings, decisions, actions and results. Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl said, “Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude.”

There are many different life lenses and attitudes we can choose – scarcity verses abundance, angry verses peaceful, victim verses victor and more. There are definitely times when we’ve benefitted by choosing a different life lens and attitude. Let’s take negativity verses positivity for an example. We may want to be positive but when things are going wrong, it’s not always easy to “switch lenses” so we see things in a positive way. One way to help choose the right life lens is to ask, “How is this life lens serving me?” If it’s not serving you well, try viewing life from a different, more helpful lens. Also, maybe it just means adjusting the focus of your life lens. Don’t expect to be totally positive overnight, yet when you commit to focusing on the positive, you will see more of it and the positivity lens gets clearer and stronger. When we choose the right life lens, life becomes easier and better. We decided to talk to some optometrists to see what life lenses they choose to use.

We met with Dr. Jason Stensos of Chanhassen Vision Clinic and asked him what “lens” he uses to look at life. He replied, “I’ve viewed the world through the eyes of my children for the last five years. I have a five and a three year old – two little girls. Quite honestly, [I try] to see the beauty of the world how they see it, keeping life ’20/Happy’ and making everything just perfect through their eyes. It’s amazing how kids view that. Everything’s new and they don’t look at anything in the world as far as having any pessimistic views. It’s all optimism in their eyes. So, I think if most of us – and I try to live that way – can keep our view of the world as being very optimistic and being happy, it’s the best thing we can do. It’s very simple, very real and very pure, like we did when we were five and three [years old]. It [the world] would be a much better place.” Then he joked and added, “If that all fails, then I would say that my view of life is what my wife tells me it is.” His wife, Brandi, must also have a good sense of humor.

To clarify the meaning of “20/Happy”, according to Kathleen Mercado, Evelyn Harkin and Carleigh Schaefer, who work at the Chanhassen Vision Clinic, “20/Happy” is a term Dr. Stensos uses when patients are happy about their vision. We agree that term is also good when looking through a life lens.

Then we went to Wink Family Eyecare in Chanhassen where we met Dr. Sarah Ebeling and staff, Tracey Muench, Bridget O’Gara and Chloe Nauman. When asked what life lens she uses, Dr. Ebeling answered, “I would say I do look through rose-colored glasses – no pun intended. I’ve always been told I’m an optimist. My husband, James, thinks he’s a realist and I’m an optimist.” I interjected that’s a good combination. She agreed, “That tends to work pretty well for us. I do try to look at the positives, really, in every situation. My mom always said, ‘If God will take you to it, He will get you through it.’ So I do try to look more for a positive outlook and really appreciate the beauty all around us, especially in Minnesota. We do have a lot of beautiful things to look at with the trees and the lakes. Our kids like to look at the clouds and find different animals in there. Just the other day my son saw a fluffy elephant in the clouds. So we try to appreciate everything that we are given in daily life.”

The people we talked to shared about the lenses through which they choose to view the world. Now, how about you? What life lens do you choose to use?

Here’s a challenge: Take time to notice how you are viewing your life and the world. Then adjust the life lens you choose to use so it supports the view and attitude that’s helpful for your life. We invite you to let us know your thoughts on choosing attitudes and life lenses

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Chanhassen residents Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center. They can be contacted at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2017 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.