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Get a Broader Perspective – Do It Different and Work Smarter

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While traveling in Costa Rica, I was fascinated by leaf-cutter ants. I read about their efficient, organized and highly evolved society and watched them at work for hours. From this experience, I learned the value of working smarter by trying a different approach inspired by a broader perspective.

The ant trail looks like a miniature super highway with thousands of ants marching in single file. They are all carrying a piece of leaf, each one about the same size, carefully cut for maximum efficiency. Each load is larger and heavier than the ant itself and maxes out its carrying capacity.

The ant trail leads to a rocky area with an abrupt ten-foot drop – a miniature undercut cliff, impossible to walk down, especially with such an unwieldy load. Even though it’s breezy, there’s still a big pile of leaves at the edge of the cliff, dropped there by the ants that gave up. The cliff is obviously a dangerous route, especially when carrying a large leaf, which acts like a sail in the breeze. It’s too tall to jump, although there are leaves at the bottom of the cliff scattered around a few crippled ants and a few dead ones. Many ants get blown off the cliff or make the jump, even though their chances for success from the evidence below doesn’t look good.

A small percentage of the ants veer off before the cliff and climb a gentle incline. From up here, you can see the road taken by the majority, you can see the cliff, and you can see that route is not working. You can also see an easy route that goes around the cliff through the brush, protected from the breeze, and leading back to the ant colony.

Most of the ants continue to work harder. They struggle against the wind with their heavy loads. Some take perilous risks at the edge of the cliff. Some are damaged from their misguided exertion. Others are blown away. Some die.

A few ants dare to explore a new way, even though most of their peers continue blindly in the direction of the ant in front of them. These innovative ants explore a new direction. They try something new. They do things differently. They step away from the crowd, climb a little higher and are rewarded with a broader perspective.

They don’t fight the wind because they see it’s not necessary. They don’t jump or hang-glide off the cliff because they see it’s not necessary. Their overview of the situation provides them with an obvious solution . . . go around the cliff.

They work with less exertion; less danger. More efficiency. More success. They reach their objective.

Eventually, more and more of their peers will catch on and realize they too can reach their objective by working smarter instead of harder. In time, the route around the cliff will become the new super highway . . . until some free-thinker is inspired to strike out on his own to see the broader perspective and find an even better way.

Thinking about the ants, I realize how often we work harder . . . and harder . . . and harder . . . at the very same things. The solution is not to work harder. In fact, working harder is often the problem. We’re so consumed by the details of our busy-work, we don’t pause long enough to look up and catch a glimpse of the broader perspective.

Whatever our task, whatever our goal, there is likely a better way to approach it. There is likely a new and improved super highway waiting to be discovered by those willing to leave the herd mentality, be different, and trust their personal vision from the broader perspective.

Our Broader Perspective

What is our broader perspective, and how do we access it?

When I think of the view from our broader perspective, to me, it means the viewpoint of our inner self . . . who we really are. Without the filters of our ego, the world looks quite different. The problem is . . . this lofty viewpoint seems illusive. We all have access to it, but most of us spend the vast majority of the moments of our lives viewing the world through the eyes of ego.

Ego’s Perspective

We are conditioned by our current culture to identify ourselves with what we do, what we have and where we are. Who we are is missing from ego’s viewpoint.

Ego is anchored to the past and attached to the future. This present moment – right now – is illusive to the ego because ego’s realm is the world of thought rather than the world of being. The realm of being is all about the present and has nothing to do with yesterday and tomorrow.

Ego says, “I am a writer.”
The view from broader perspective is, “I am soul and enjoy writing.”

Ego says, “I am rich.”
The view from broader perspective is, “I am pure being and enjoy the process of manifesting in my life the abundance permeating the entire universe.”

Ego says, “I am an American.”
The view from broader perspective is, “I am that I am . . . currently focused in a particular body residing in this particular place.”

Ego says, “I am defined by my history and concerned about the future.”
The view from broader perspective is, “I am here and now in this perfect moment, as I always have been and as I always will be.”

Identifying with Broader Perspective on Purpose

People occasionally identify with broader perspective with no apparent effort or intent, but it’s rare to arrive at such a viewpoint accidentally. More commonly, brief glimpses are caught deliberately by intent, and repeated by personal discipline and the use of clever techniques.

Intent

After understanding the difference between society’s default sense of identity (ego) and who we really are (pure being), the natural inclination is to explore the realm of being. This is done by deliberate intent. It’s a subtle shift of attention away from all things outward (the realm of the ego) to inward states of being.

In the process, it’s not necessary to deny or deprive yourself from the myriad delightful physical experiences available. It is enough to loosen the attachment to them and most importantly, stop the personal identification with the physical senses and the objects of the senses. All these things are enhanced and enjoyed to the fullest once the intent is made to shift the personal identification away from the ego’s world of things to the soul’s realm of being.

Discipline

Discipline is simply a promise you make to yourself, once you are willing to apply the effort necessary to keep it. It seems the entire world conspires to make you forget who you really are – being. Through discipline, you promise to remind yourself to look through the illusion and identify with pure being in this present moment.

Clever Techniques

There are tools available to help access the realm of being more fully and more often, rather than hoping you will meander there accidentally.

1) Be still with attention on your breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. In and out. Over and over. Between the in and the out is a still point. Allow your attention to flow and expand into this stillness. This is only possible to do in this present moment – now. Whenever you are here, in the stillness, you are in the realm of being, experiencing your broader perspective, beyond the reach of ego.

2) Be still and observe your thoughts. Just watch them go by. It’s not necessary to try to change them or slow them or stop them. Just observe. Look for the gaps between thoughts. This quiet and peaceful (although fleeting) stillness is also available only in this present moment – right now. Whenever you detect a gap between thoughts, pour your attention into it and enjoy the sense of being that exists beyond thought. This awareness is the field that thoughts occur within. From here, you are able to watch the thoughts as they parade by, one after another. Since you are observing them, you are obviously not the thoughts . . . you are the watcher of the thoughts.

“Who is the watcher, who sits in the stillness and knows,
And who is the looker, who notices the king wears no clothes.
Who is the seer, who sees beyond the mind,
And who is the seeker, who’ll find the grand design.

“It’s everyone, and nobody at all,
Crying out, and heeding the call.
Reaching out . . . it’s the silent kind,
Reaching in . . . with an eye on the mind.

“Cause time keeps the sun shadowed from the face
It’s dawning is now and here is the place.
Not up ahead and not back then,
What else is there . . . If not now . . . When?”
From the song, “Who is the Watcher” by Tupelo Kenyon

3) Learn new meditation techniques. Here are some tips offered in previous articles, “Simple Toning Meditation” and “Guided Meditation for Self-Healing and Personal Development.”

Focusing Our Perspective

The view from our broader perspective is not the kind of thing that you catch a glimpse of once and then automatically have it forever. True, you will likely remember it forever because this shift of identity away from ego and toward being is one of life’s grandest ah-ha moments. But it must be recaptured again and again. Intent, discipline and clever techniques are necessary because our culture constantly reinforces identifying with the ego – what you do, what you have and where you are.

Society’s machine depends upon an army of egos to make it tick. That’s just how it is. Still, society is a good tool to use deliberately to enhance our physical experience. We’re here to enjoy all aspects of our lives, including everything made possible by our senses, our cultures and even our egos. But to benefit from all these things, we don’t have to identify with them. It is not necessary to confuse any of them with who we are.

We are soul, pure being . . . the eyes, ears and hands of the universe itself – here on the leading edge of creation. Deep inside all of us is a spark of our source, and we can choose to identify with it or choose to ignore it. We are powerful beings. In fact, we are so powerful, we can chose to believe we are powerless and make it so by our belief.

Or, we can identify ourselves with the creative power of the universe, now experiencing its grandest creation from within the creation. Once we catch a glimpse of a view of this magnitude, our deliberate intent, personal discipline and clever techniques help us continue to sharpen the focus of our broader perspective.

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Listen FREE to the song samples below . . . chosen to enhance the ideas in this article.

	Who is the Watcher Explores the silent witness within and the idea that life occurs in this present moment. Always. http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescX.html#Anchor-14 Way of the World Life is so huge . . . so diverse . . . the possibilities are literally infinite. What’s the best way to sort it all out and carve out a little niche of our own? http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescX.html#Anchor1 It’ll Be All Right Now It’s one thing to understand intellectually that the thoughts we think mold our experience, and another thing to live every moment as if it really is a basic law of nature. http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescX.html#Anchor10 A Heartbeat in Eternity’s Highway In the grand scheme of things, what’s the difference between a single moment and all of eternity? What’s the point of reference? http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescX.html#Anchor17 Soul in the Stars It feels good to try to see the bigger picture once in awhile,and to focus on gratitude for what we have, rather than the frustration of what we are lacking. http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescHere.html#Anchor4 Story Belt Celebrates the importance of keeping things in perspective while being a part of the bigger picture. http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescHere.html#Anchor8 Love is Who You Are "What is love, anyway?" Is it something you give or get, have or make? Or could it be, down deep, simply who we are? http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescHB.html#Anchor1 Within Without An atom and a solar system is virtually the same thing - mostly empty space! Even quantum physics is still wondering, "Is the universe a great big thing, or a great big thought?" http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescHB.html#Anchor6 Same Olde Time Time - it’s so relative. "What if distant starlight shining in the endless sky is just the same, by a different name, as the twinkle in your eye?" http://www.somemusicmatters.com/DescHB.html#Anchor7 Songs by Tupelo
Simple Toning Meditation When it comes to meditation and contemplation, all we really need is a simple technique that produces obvious results. Celebrate life through this easy method of calming the mind and getting in closer touch with your inner being. Guided Meditation for Self-Healing and Personal Development It’s helpful to have a helping hand once in awhile. I was fortunate to have friends show me how to meditate. It was just friends showing friends something cool . . . because they could. Or maybe it was some kind of big brother / big sister program for the spiritually ripe. It was easy. It was casual. It was a life-changing experience. Know Thyself - Ignore Comparisons and Be Yourself The average person is content to base self-knowledge on comparisons to other people. If this is the measure of self-knowledge, it is based on someone else’s standards. This practice misses the point of “Know Thyself.” Instead, it’s all about how to fit in. We are all unique individuals with our own strengths, talents and nudges leading us to embrace our own best life. True knowledge of self is attained from personal insights of looking inwardly rather than outwardly towards others. Appreciate Here and Now No matter what’s going on in your life right now, there’s something to appreciate about it. The act of appreciation rivets our consciousness to this present moment. With our attention focused on the here and now, we are living life fully, since right now is the only time there ever is. Self-Discipline in 3 Easy Steps Why is it so difficult to follow through and accomplish what you set out to do? Usually, there is one important missing ingredient: personal discipline. For most of us, the idea of discipline is an external force - it’s something that comes from the outside. For instance, we discipline our children. Most of us are familiar with discipline as a verb (something we do to someone else), but we’re not so familiar with the concept as a noun - something we cultivate from within and apply to ourselves. Enhance Your Self-Image on Purpose Here are twelve common sense reminders on how to inspire yourself. The word “inspire” derives from root words that mean “in spirit” or “spirit within.” Although there’s always another step to take, these points are a natural result of recognizing and identifying with this realization of who we really are. Ego or Soul? Who’s Driving Even though I identify my sense of self with soul, there seems to be another “something” inside forever jockeying for position and making its presence known. This is the ego. What’s the difference? How can you know which one is in charge? What are their characteristics? Since I prefer peace to mayhem and contentment to perpetual, blind striving, my goal is to keep soul in the driver’s seat as often as possible. Instead of an either/or situation, I like the idea of soul and ego peacefully coexisting in a manner that best serves the greater good. Articles by Tupelo
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