Perspective

Two of my sisters-in-law are the inspiration for this post.  Both are very creative writers.
One sister (shout out to JULIE) occasionaly writes on her family blog as her 2 year old daughter.  Even her 4 month old son recently wrote his debut blog post.  These posts are written through the child's perspective, complete with phonetic mis-spells.  My other sister (shout out to KARI) takes  mundane, everyday items and brings them to life.  She has infused more life into objects such as stairs and dust bunnies than the average character in a dime store novel.
So what makes their writing so witty, creative, descriptive and full of life?
I think it comes down to one word:  PERSPECTIVE.
They put themselves inside a child's mind, or in the mind place of an ordinary objct, and then think like that child or object (if an object thought, that is).
Where am I going with this?
Well, I think it connects well with our discussion on relationships.  If we purposed to get inside the other person's head and view the world from their perspective, we might be less likely to judge what they say or do.  We might be more likely to understand what they are meaning to say and do, instead of focusing on how it offends us.
I try and keep this in mind when living with my husband and three children (which I do 24/7 - :)
Why must my toddler take for-ever walking from point A to point B?!?  Must every ant, rock, leaf, and fire hydrant be thouroughly inspected?  Well, if I was just discovering the world around me and toddled only 2 feet off the ground, I imagine I would be fascinated, too.   When my husband is 10 -TEN- minutes late for supper I can think "How dare he.  We are all waiting for him and couldn't he be more considerate!"  When from his perspective, that extra 10 minutes speaking with his boss avoided 2 hours of extra work the next day.  Not to mention the respect of his boss, whom it's important to keep happy.  When my children run around yelling non-sense words at the top of their lungs, are they purposely trying my sanity?  Or are they just being kids and enjoying each other's creative company?
There are, of course, more serious examples, but those 3 come to mind this Sunday afternoon.
I think I'll try and keep things in perspective this week by considering other people's perspectives.

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Have you ever experienced a situation where fresh perspective helped the relationship - or at least your attitude concerning the other person?