Perspective Is Key: Look for the Glimmers

A few weeks ago, I took our family dog Pascal outside to do his business. He is slow and deliberate about this, and I found my mind thinking about a stressful situation as I waited for Pascal to stop prancing and do his thing. 

“I just need a change in perspective,” I thought, as my mind spiraled downwards with negative thoughts. At that moment, I stopped standing and crouched down. I am always fascinated when I do this. The world looks different when I view it from a crouched position instead of standing, especially since I am six feet tall. Suddenly, I saw a few bees buzzing from one red clover flower to the next in the grass now near my eyes. “I could have missed this so easily,” I realized. Time seemed to slow as I watched those little bees. I could have watched them for a long time, but my deep attention towards the bees was interrupted when I felt Pascal tug on his leash and heard him barking. He had seen the neighbor’s dog. I brought him inside, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the lesson of which God had reminded me. There is always more happening than we can see. Sometimes we just need a change in perspective.  

I believe that perspective is a key to enduring hard circumstances. We can focus on everything that is going wrong, or we can focus on what is going right, and we will probably feel happier if we focus on the latter. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” It is a known fact, supported by neuroscience, that what we are doing we are getting better at. For example, practice is the key to mastering playing an instrument or learning a craft. The first time I tried to crochet was a real struggle, but now I am good at it and have been awarded blue ribbons for my work. Likewise, defaulting to a positive perspective is something that comes with practice. 

Recently, I was thinking about the phrase, “When it rains, it pours.” I certainly can relate to the sentiment. Sometimes, a lot of things do go wrong all around the same time, but I suspect our feelings about “When it rains, it pours” partly has to do with us being more aware of what is going wrong. When experiencing trauma, the brain is trying harder to keep us safe and becomes hypervigilant as a result. The "little things" trigger us more. Have you ever found yourself crying over something that was mostly inconsequential but that felt like the terrible icing on a cake? I have.

However, with this discussion about positivity, I must clarify that I am not suggesting that we merely turn a blind eye to our and others' problems. I do not believe that is behaving responsibly. God calls us to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2), and He also hates abuse. Isaiah 1:17 says, “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” What I am suggesting is that when we are faced with hard things, we look for the glimmers. The term glimmers was coined by Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker. Glimmers are the opposite of triggers, which are cues—accurate or not—that move the body into fight-or-flight or freeze states. On the other hand, glimmers are moments of goodness that regulate our nervous system and cue safety to our brains. They instill peace, evoke joy, and improve mood and mental health. They help to build nervous system resilience so that the body is not triggered as easily. Watching the bees as I waited for Pascal was a glimmer.

Since watching the bees a few weeks ago, I’ve become more intentional about looking for the glimmers. Already, I am feeling better mentally and physically, and I am getting more excited about looking for and finding glimmers in unexpected places. I’ve started keeping a gratitude journal again, this time in a calendar. I am recording three glimmers in the square for each day. Does looking for glimmers magically take our problems away? No, but the change in perspective makes our problems easier to bear. I hope you’ll join me in this search to find and delight in the glimmers God sends our way.

 Glimmer

 Glimmer

 Glimmer