You are down in the dumps. All you can see are the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in front of you. You can’t imagine one more thing on your plate, one more negative intrusion, one more troubling situation. The adage, “She can’t see the forest for the trees” is where you find yourself.

You know that you need a fresh perspective, a mindset shift, but how?

When we were first married, my husband owned two Volkswagen Beetles. Endearingly, he named them Clyde and Daisy. Clyde became my car, a blue convertible. Yes, I would be driving in style!

In order for me to drive Clyde, I had to learn to drive a stick shift. My first attempts had me jerking, revving the engine and quite frustrated. But eventually I became a pro, shifting gears with ease. Stop lights, traffic… no problem. I was smooth.

When you have lost perspective, how can you smoothly shift the gears of your mind so that you can find perspective again?

Ask yourself powerful, perspective changing questions:

• How does this problem or challenge create a new opportunity for me?
• What am I grateful for in my life today? What is going well?
• What do I want to be true of me when I look back on how I handled this situation? Courageous, forgiving, thoughtful, trusting, loving?
• How does this challenge fit with the big picture of my life?
• How does the Gospel inform and shine light on my situation?

Try asking yourself these five questions and experience a mindset shift.Then, try them out on your friends, family members, and disciples when they are down in the dumps.

What are some questions you ask to gain perspective? Please leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8