How you look at your life affects how you feel about it which then impacts the actions you take.

Feel badly about yourself or the way your life is going and you’re more likely to stay home and brood.

Feel good about your life or career and you’re more likely to act for the sake of it.

It all starts with the stories you choose to tell yourself.

The point is, there is no truth about you or your life; only perspective. And you get to choose it.

You get to compose the stories and perspective on your life,

just like a photographer gets to compose his subject, or a fiction writer gets to create his protagonist.

I think photography is a better metaphor because everyone can relate to it.

A photographer would never take a bad picture of a subject that s/he cared about. S/he would compose the shot by considering things like foreground, background, lighting, movement etc. and only then would s/he shoot.

Just like a photographer can illuminate a subject, so can you with any aspect of your life.

S/he doesn’t choose shots that makes the subject look bad or uninteresting and s/he deletes or Photoshops the ones that don’t give the desired result.

The photographer knows there are ways to frame the subject to bring out it’s interest and beauty.

Why wouldn’t you take the same care for the subject of your life.

It’s all about choice

The moment you find yourself feeling down and in moods of depression or even despair you are looking at a bad photograph of your life. Metaphorically speaking.

Take another.

This time focus on the good things you’ve done, the good people in your life and on what you’ve learned.   If you’re feeling down about the bad things that you did or happened to you, focus on the good things that came out of them.  With time there’s always something good that comes from misfortune and tragedy.

The thing to always remember is that—like a photographer—there are many ways to shoot (think or talk about) the subject of your life.  If you have difficulty doing this it’s because you’ve become attached to one perspective and have forgotten that—like a photographer—you can choose another.   Good friends, coaches and mentors are invaluable in helping you see the beauty, richness that come from your unique life.

So every time you try to compose a shot with your camera, think about doing the same with how you think and talk about your life.