Well, in this year of 2026, our focus is all about freedom. Not just political freedom, but more importantly emotional, spiritual, and mental freedom.
Along those lines, I was thinking of how our perspective can either aid us in being free, or can significantly limit or curtail our freedom altogether.
What does “perspective” actually mean? Here is a definition from Dictionary.com:
a way of regarding situations, facts, etc., and judging their relative importance
Clearly how we see things can have a great influence on our emotions and actions. We can view things from an objective perspective, or a spiritual perspective or even from a humor perspective. And we can also choose a positive or a negative perspective. It’s ultimately up to us…but very few people realize that.
Let’s face it, with the influence of our culture, the main-stream media, Hollywood, social media and politics, our perspective is constantly being influenced, if not outright assaulted. Even those around us can impact our perspective- hang around negative people enough and sooner or later, you’ll see the world through the same cloudy perspective. Get around faith filled people and you’ll begin to view life through the eyes of faith also. Find a friend with a good sense of humor and your perspective can be considerably lightened up as well.
We all have an innate inclination to see things a certain way…like seeing the glass as half full or half empty. Your temperament plays a big role there. Those with a melancholy temperament tend to see the glass as half empty- a sanguine temperament as half full etc. The reality though is that your perspective is actually something you can choose.
First you need to become aware of your characteristic way of seeing things. If you tend toward the negative, catch yourself and take deliberate steps to try to see the positives in every situation. Try to become aware of how much the media, social media and the opinions of others are influencing your own perspective. You’ll be amazed to realize how often what you think or the way you see things are influenced by the culture around you.
To be truly free, you need to cultivate a faith perspective. How may God see this situation? What is the truth or how can you find it? Where may God be at work in this circumstance? What graces can you gain as you deal with it? What sins or inclinations to sin are being provoked in you in relation to an experience?
Things are rarely as they seem on the surface. The difficult co-worker may be carrying a heavy, hidden cross. The truth about world events is only as reliable as the reporting on them. Since God is Truth, calling on the Holy Spirit to help you see things from a heavenly perspective will free you up to make better judgments and better decisions.
With God and faith as your guide, you can achieve a true heavenly perspective that will free you to live a life of grace and true interior freedom.
Lent is a great time to reflect on this idea of spiritual freedom and, through our prayers and penances to achieve a greater faith perspective.
Allison is also the Founder and President of www.CatholicTherapists.com, and CatholicLifeCoaches.com, which provide nationwide networks of screened and dedicated Catholic therapists and Catholic life coaches.
- Ep. 352 How Do You Know What God Wants? - August 19, 2026
- Ep. 351 Is Your Therapist Reinforcing a Victim Mentality? - August 12, 2026
- Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner…Do We Have That Backwards? - August 12, 2026
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