I was on a walk today, just like I do most mornings. It’s a perfect spring morning.

Not too hot.

Not too cold.

Sunny. Crisp air. What more could a girl want?

As I’m peacefully walking along I suddenly came upon an object on the sidewalk.

My first reaction, omg is that a giant grasshopper?!

For a split second my heart leaps into my throat, my eyes widen, and I become on high alert.

Danger! My sympathetic nervous system says in reaction to my thought.

On second glance, I saw it was just a leaf curled in a way that kinda looked grasshoppery.

Feeling Immediately relieved, I witnessed my body calm in an instant.

My peace returned. And then I started laughing at myself for getting so worked up over a leaf.

Perspective is everything. When I looked ahead and spotted something “scary”, my nervous system responded in kind. When I spotted a harmless plant my nervous system responded in kind.

We often think we have no control over the way we react to something but this simple story highlights the power of your thoughts. If you’re expecting something bad, scary, or harmful then that’s what you’re going to see.

But you can train your mind to do something different.

Let’s put this in another context.

You think your boss is out to get you. So every interaction you have with them, you’re waiting for them to start shit and prove your thought right. If they even look at you wrong, you’re going to take notice.

You avoid them at all cost and you doubt they have your interest at heart.

But what if that thought didn’t exist?

Let’s pretend it’s impossible to think that thought.

Maybe now you start to notice all the little ways your boss is supporting you and you start to feel grateful. The next email you get from them, you read in a neutral tone and you willingly respond kindly back.

What’s the difference here?

Your boss didn’t change. You did. And because of that, you got to have more peace. The thought shift wasn’t for your boss’ sake. It was for yours.

Protecting your peace is as easy as witnessing your thoughts and questioning their truth.

Now I can hear some of you already asking yourselves, what if I’m in a toxic or dangerous situation or environment?

To that I’ll say I’m sorry you’re suffering.

And no, “positive thinking” alone won’t change your situation. But compassion and action will.

You can still take action to leave a situation, call the police, ask for help. Especially in the height of a crisis.

And when you’re ready, you can investigate the idea that you can still have compassion for someone AND take action to honor your own wellbeing and safety. It’s not because the person deserves “punishment” because they’re “bad”.

The reality is, people are who they are and we can’t control that. But there are consequences for actions.

I hope you can hear that and see the freedom in it.

When we feel we’ve been wronged and someone needs to be punished, they now have power over you. And life is a mirror. So when we see someone who needs to be punished, then we also will start to view ourselves as needing to be punished.

Compassion and perspective changing can give you your power back.

Most importantly, stop seeing giant scary bugs where there’s only leaves and your life will change.