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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Choosing Happy podcast.

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I'm your host, Heather Masters.

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And on today's show, we're going

to explore how looking at life

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from different perspectives can

bring you more joy, more happiness.

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meaning and happiness.

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And we're going to use some metaphors

around jigsaws and Scrabble to illustrate

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this concept in a fun and insightful way.

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So I invite you to subscribe,

to like, and to join me.

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And this week's Choosing Happy Podcast.

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Hello and welcome to this

week's Choosing Happy Podcast.

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I'm Heather Masters.

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Life can often feel like a

giant unsolved jigsaw puzzle.

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Especially when it sometimes

feels out of your control.

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When we look at everything that's

happening in the world, all of the

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pieces of the puzzle flying and

changing and shifting each day, it

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can really feel like a struggle.

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But one of the real key things

that I remember When I think

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about all of this, it's that

every piece of the puzzle counts.

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So even if you feel like you're a piece

of sky that's insignificant and no one's

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bothered with, actually, you're a piece

of the puzzle and the puzzle cannot

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be completed without you taking part.

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And sometimes it seems like we're

given all these random pieces.

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We're given the circumstances,

relationships, opportunities, challenges

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in our lives, and we have to figure

out how to put together our part of

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the puzzle into a coherent picture.

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But here's the thing, if we only

look at those puzzle pieces one way,

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we can get frustrated, We can get

annoyed trying to make them fit.

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Often, the universe has

a bigger picture in mind.

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So, we're only laying the

foundations for a new part of

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the puzzle to fall into place.

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And sometimes when we turn around those

pieces that we're struggling with, We

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see that they actually fit perfectly for

a picture that we just hadn't seen yet.

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So, being able to see things from a

different angle, or a perspective,

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suddenly the connections become clear.

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And I love to remember that the

universe, the creator, the creator.

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Whatever you call it, always

has my highest interest in mind.

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This is all a journey towards

my destiny, my higher purpose.

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So, sometimes when pieces that seemed

hopelessly mismatched, they can

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suddenly start interlocking perfectly.

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And that's a gift of hindsight.

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The gift of looking back

and joining the dots.

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The same is true for other

puzzles that life throws our way.

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By shifting our viewpoint, say for your

business, we can find meaning, lessons,

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and even unexpected gifts in the most

challenging and difficult situations.

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So maybe you didn't land that client,

but you were really pinning your hopes

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on And yet, there's a better one around

the corner, and you couldn't have signed

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with them if you'd signed that first one.

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Maybe you didn't buy the house, that

dream home you were after, and yet there's

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another one around the corner, which is

even better, in an even better location,

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and is perfect for you and your family.

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What once looked like a hopeless

jumble starts coming together in

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a beautiful way when we adjust

our lens, adjust our expectations

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and allow life to show us the way.

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Another great analogy for this concept

is the game of Scrabble, and we're

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dealt a random bunch of letter tiles.

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Some players might look and

see only the limitations.

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You know, you might say, I

can't make anything, any good

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words with these letters.

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But the skilful Scrabble

player sees the possibilities.

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They find ways to creatively

combine and rearrange those letters.

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into high scoring words.

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Not just the ones that are already on the

tiles, but they look at the big picture.

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If you like, they look at the jigsaw,

they look at the scrabble board, and

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they know where just adding one The low

scoring letter can create a massive high

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score with what's already been played.

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And in life, we can't always control

the circumstances and challenges

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that get tossed our way any more

than we can pick the letters

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we're given in the Scrabble game.

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But we can decide how we make use of them.

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We can decide that.

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Okay, this one random letter,

maybe I've been landed with the Z.

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Yeah, what am I supposed to do with that?

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But if I look at what's actually

around me, what's available to

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me, where in my life I can add

that Z to compound the results.

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That's especially true in business.

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When we think about when everyone

went into lockdowns, businesses had

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to really think laterally to come

up with new and innovative ways.

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If there's something that's happened

over the last two, three years,

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it's the amount of innovation.

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The new types of businesses, the new

ways of doing business, the new ways

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of marketing, the additions to existing

businesses to make them work online and

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remotely that were never there before.

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So what can you do with the letters

that you hold in your hand, either

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in your business or your life,

to create new combinations and

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craft something new, interesting?

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and high scoring.

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The happiest people are the ones who

approach life's letters and jigsaws with

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creativity, openness, and a willingness

to spell out fresh perspectives.

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They don't get flustered by seemingly

random tiles or random things that the

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universe sends their way, but they see

them as opportunities Possibilities

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and the gift of having a chance

for novel thinking, for thinking

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out of the box, for disrupting.

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How can we start looking at life's

jigsaws and scrabble racks in a new way?

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Here are a few suggestions.

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Question your assumptions.

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Question how you're looking at the world.

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The lens we view the world through is

largely shaped by our beliefs, our values,

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our experiences and habits of thought.

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But those can distort reality or

cause us to miss important details.

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They can limit what we see.

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Regularly questioning your assumptions

about people, situations, and yourself can

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reveal new angles and new possibilities.

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Seek out viewpoints.

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Make it a point to have conversations

with people from different

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backgrounds, cultures, walks of life.

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People with different opinions who cause

you to question, to examine, to explore.

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The way they see the world can

expose you to new perspectives

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you'd never consider on your own.

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Change your routine.

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Routines are psychological lenses

that can keep us stuck in a

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narrow way of perceiving things.

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So, switch up your daily patterns.

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Take a new route.

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Visit an unfamiliar

place or try a new hobby.

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These different experiences can

shake up your viewpoint and even

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introduce you to new synchronicities.

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Reframe challenges.

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As I said earlier, rather than reflexively

seeing obstacles as negative, reframe

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them as opportunities to innovate,

grow, or re evaluate your approach.

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Remember that.

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There's a great perspective

on seeing the universe.

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It's always for me.

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So what are the lessons

and insights you can gain?

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By looking at this challenge from

a different angle or perspective.

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Practice gratitude.

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This one's always there.

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When we appreciate the small,

positive details in our lives, it

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helps us see the bigger picture in

a more balanced, optimistic light.

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Gratitude and appreciation gives us a

lens of abundance rather than lack and

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can shift the way that we see things.

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That can show us the opportunities and

possibilities that we may not be able

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to see from a limited perspective.

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And finally, the one I started with.

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Remember that you're an

important piece of the puzzle.

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You're an important letter

on the Scrabble board.

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You're an important piece of the jigsaw.

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The world is never

complete without you in it.

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And God, Creator, Universe

never makes mistakes.

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You're as important as any other piece of

the jigsaw from the Creator's perspective.

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And the bottom line is that our level

of happiness is greatly impacted by

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the lens we choose to view the world.

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And being able to put on a new pair of

glasses to adjust our perspective and

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start looking for the possibilities,

the opportunities, the different ways

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of doing things, maybe the possibility

to disrupt can always bring everything

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into a clear, more exciting, more

interesting and vibrant focus for us.

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So take a moment to really look

for the connections, the unexpected

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meanings, lessons, or even gifts

hidden within our challenges.

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Approach obstacles with an open,

creative mindset instead of getting

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stuck in one rigid perspective.

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I hope you found this helpful.

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And I look forward to

seeing you again next week.

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Thank you so much for taking the time

to listen to this week's episode.

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If you enjoyed it or think it would be

valuable to others, please do share.

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And if you really enjoyed

it, please leave me a review.

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It really helps the podcast.

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All of the links are in the show notes

and I look forward to seeing you next

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week on the Choosing Happy podcast.