Upside Down World
As a child I would image what it would be like if the world got flipped upside down. I would picture walking around on the ceiling of my house, fighing the slants of the arched ceiling and stepping over the upper (or in this reality, lower) door jam just to get through the doorway. How difficult it would be to reach the bottom cupcoards, now distantly nestled up near the “floor”.
I wondered if I could rest in the underside of the tree branches suspended by the trunk. Much like an upside down umbrella.
In the imagination of a child, it would be awesome if everything was upside down…
When I grew up, I realized that many things in life are ‘upside down’.
Sometimes you just need to turn things on their head for them to really make sense.
Or maybe ‘opposite’ is a better word… Take a look at the following examples to see that, often, doing the opposite might just be the best thing.
Consider, when:
- Angry, it might be best to refrain from outrage
- Wronged, it’s less painful to return good for evil
- Someone is missed, it’s better to be happy about the times you have had (and hopefully will have again) than to dwell in their absence
- Drowning, it’s healthier not to gasp for air
- Waiting, it’s better to remain patient
- Leading people, it’s helpful to follow Someone
- Teaching, it’s beneficial to learn
- Writing, you will be better if you read
- Fighting, you might win by giving up
- Loving, it’s better to give than receive
Many of life’s responses produce greater results when the counterintuitive option is chosen.
Can you think of examples in your own life when doing the opposite of your natural instinct is better?
