When You Feel Like You’re Not Where You’re Supposed To Be In Life, Try Changing Your Perspective

You are exactly where you need to be. Seriously. Don’t believe me? Imagine that you are looking at yourself from the moon. 

Stepping out of your body is an unbelievable tool for self-awareness. Take that one step further and expand from basic objectivity to philosophy. Consider your existence from the perspective of the moon… so far removed from the day-to-day that the only thing that remains in sight is what is truly real: the grandeur of life.

I know it is hard to envision the world beyond yourself, but the concept of existence is truly so much greater than your reality. When you accept that there is so much more to the world than what you see, hear, touch, and experience every day, you give yourself the opportunity to be greater than yourself. You connect to all of existence and ultimately recognize that you are exactly where you need to be. Seriously.  

When you see yourself from the moon, you also see every piece of context in existence: the struggles of the individual person, the struggles of the collective humanity, the struggles of the planet’s entirety. You are not isolated; you belong to something much bigger, more complicated, and more intertwined than you could ever imagine. Truthfully, the you from the moon is a remarkable thing—an amalgamation of time, space, and matter coming together to create a beautiful being that has achieved its only goal: survival. 

Gaining this perspective will change the way you view your current status. Look back on your life and watch the story of you as a voyeur far away on the moon. As you go through it, recognize every moment that you swore you couldn’t come back from… and recognize that you are somehow still standing. The fact that you are reading this right now is proof that you have overcome everything so far. It is proof that life finds a way. Against all odds, you have survived. By looking at yourself through an objective lens, you realize that your story is not mediocre or mundane whatsoever—it is a story of survival and triumph. There are no mistakes, because every decision has led you to right here and right now. 

Maybe you aren’t where you want to be right now, but you are somewhere on the journey towards it. Maybe you just haven’t achieved your goals because there are a few more “won’t come back from” points to get through. Maybe the reason you aren’t living your dream life is because you haven’t reached the perspective to realize that you already are. When you get to the moon and look back, it’s clear that there were only ever two options: either you could have fought to be exactly where you are right now or you could have not survived. You survived. 

Every time you thought that you hit rock bottom, you have shown up for yourself, fighting your fears and proving that you have the answers. The struggles you endure make you more prepared for the next ones, so find peace in the fact that you have overcome before and you will overcome again. Everything is going to be alright, because you are exactly where you need to be right now, I promise. You could see it from the moon. 

Perspective is everything. Astronaut Michael Collins said, “I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of, let’s say 100,000 miles, their outlook would be fundamentally changed. The all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument suddenly silenced.” Living solely in your day-to-day leaves you with tunnel vision, surrounded by all-important borders and noisy arguments, and in that state, you fail to recognize your true purpose. Instead, zoom out, differentiate between what is real and what is meaningless, and take pride in your existence so far—it is proof that you have always chosen the better option. 

You are a part of the wonderful mystery of life, a small piece in a beautiful ecosystem that is characterized by one thing and one thing only: survival. What a wonder it is to be alive. What a wonder it is to be you.