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Never mind the forecast - what's your outlook?

I was chatting to a colleague yesterday at a breakfast networking meeting and he said that his default cynical outlook on life meant that he was seldom disappointed. I think it was said with a degree of tongue in cheek but it set me thinking.

How do you view life? How do the people around you view it? You'll hear plenty of metaphors slipping into conversation such as, "her life's a bit of a rollercoaster", "the game of life", 'life is a bitch", "life is no bed of roses", "life's journey", and so forth. Your metaphor may vary according to what sort of day you're having!

How you view life will be reflected in your day to day experience so it's worth exploring this a little and becoming clear about your default attitude. This is not just about whether you have a more positive or a more negative outlook, it's about the underlying metaphor that colours each moment. Someone who considers life as one huge adventure or game will experience a very different reality from someone who thinks of life as being some kind of battle against the odds, for instance.

Simply exchanging one metaphor for another can have a remarkable impact on your world! So if life is a struggle, or you are not as happy as you'd like to be, consider how you view things and try swapping your current model for a more useful one. You'll be amazed at the difference that can make!

I was musing about this recently on a glorious sunny winter day while walking by the sea. For some reason I began to think about my life as an amazing jigsaw puzzle. My aim is to collect all the pieces that fit into my unique puzzle. As each piece is placed into the puzzle I get a better sense of the overall picture. The missing pieces may be people I have yet to meet, places I have yet to visit, activities, ideas, challenges, experiences - anything really. Many of the pieces are already in place and all the missing pieces are out there somewhere - I simply have to find the ones that fit - or attract them into my world.

On bad days I may feel that a few pieces have gone missing! That's ok - they'll turn up again. It's not really that they've gone missing - it's much more likely that I've been trying to force them into the wrong holes or I've hidden them underneath other pieces. When I calm down, take my time, see clearly, listen to my inner voice, and trust, the pieces slide effortlessly into place.

So that's my metaphor for the moment. I have others, too. What's yours?

Here is a selection from other people to get you started. Be honest with yourself about how you view life now. Once you are clear, you can decide whether your current metaphor is useful, or whether you'd like to have a different take on things.

"

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." (John Lennon, 1940-1980)

"Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you." (Wally 'Famous' Amos, 1936 -)

"Life is a long lesson in humility." (James M Barrie, 1860-1937)