A Shift In Perspective

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands,
but in seeing with new eyes.
– Marcel Proust

In 1915, Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew were in trouble. Their ship, aptly named 'The Endurance', was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea. The men were more than a thousand miles from shore, and hopelessly ice-bound.
 
Extreme circumstances can reveal a lot about the human condition and the following passage from Alfred Lansing's book on the subject. is particularly enlightening:

“Shackleton and his men were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world, drifting without a hope of rescue. And yet they had adjusted with surprisingly little trouble to their new life. In fact, most of them were sincerely happy. The adaptability of the human creature is such that they actually had to remind themselves on occasion of their desperate circumstances.”

This passage suggests two things:

The first is that a shift in perspective can hold extraordinary power. It can change how we feel about our lives. These men faced dire circumstances, yet managed to shift their perspective in order to face it with trust and buoyancy.

The second is that in times of crisis we rely more than ever on our leaders. They can help us right-side our perspective, and when necessary hopefully muster the capacity to shift course midstream.

When facing trying times, attempting to alter reality is often impossible. Trying to alter our perspective is almost always recommended.