Have you heard of the saying that you can’t see the forest for the trees?

When you are too close to a situation you need to step back and get a little perspective and see the bigger picture. When you step back you will notice there was a whole forest you couldn’t see before because you were too close, and too focused on the one tree in front of you.

I can be guilty of this. I get so focused in on the one problem that I fail to see the bigger picture around me. I am in the throws of motherhood at the moment, raising four small children. Children go through different stages or phases, some lovely and some completely difficult that it makes you want to tear your hair out.

I get so caught up in the fact that my child is driving me nuts with (and insert here any particular behavior that may drive you crazy) that I forget about all of the wonderful, lovely and sweet aspects of that child’s nature.

I have to step back and take a look around me and find something that is good and wonderful about them and choose to celebrate that. I have to choose to focus on that for a little while and remind myself of who they really are. They are not just this one horrible phase that they are going through right now but they are actually also this good and wonderful person and I am going to highlight that and celebrate that about them.

By stepping back and looking at the bigger picture of who that child really is I change my attitude about them and it changes the way I then approach the other not so nice thing that they are doing.

You can take this example and apply it to any difficult situation that you may be facing. Take a step back from that thing that is in front of you and take a look around. Find something that is going good in your life and take the time to stop and celebrate that. When you step back you will get a different perspective and you will see the beautiful forest and not just the one tree in front of you.