Some days start a shade off-center, don’t they? Then the whole day follows suit. Do you ever get caught in a mental maze of your own making? Do you know the feeling of having too much noise in your head or too many voices that have an opinion? Where can we get fresh perspective? What are some steps we can take to regain our mental footing so decision-making comes easier?  In my experience, there are some things we can do that help.

Today was one of those days for me. I turned the wrong way out of the parking deck. I was distracted by some ladies on the sidewalk waving at a van that had just pulled away from the curb. So instead of heading in the direction of home, like I needed to be, I was headed in the opposite direction with no easy option to turn around. I decided to take a route home that I have never taken before from that place in town. Once I was underway on my new route, I remembered I had not emailed myself a copy of the file I was working on so I could keep working later from home. While I was thinking about that, I took another wrong turn.

In my mid-twenties I got an open-ended job offer. The problem I had was I was already happily employed. The job offered was in a different sector and I really wanted to try it out. I found myself at a serious crossroads. For the life of me, I could not decide. All the energy spent working out the pros and cons was stolen from the energy needed to successfully complete other living. My whole life ended up off-center for several weeks.

During that time of life, my mother was living in Wyoming. I decided to take a vacation. I went all-in and took two full weeks. I had never done that before. I was not sure I would like it because I am a person who likes a schedule. When I get off-schedule it messes up my whole day. I start to do things like turn the wrong way out of parking decks. Anyway, I purchased a ticket and headed west.

If you have never been to Wyoming, it is gorgeous. My mother lived in a tiny town called Dubois. It is just a little stop along US Hwy 26. I spent two weeks walking from one end of town to the other taking in the local flavor. After the first week, typically when I would be headed home, I finally started to relax. It took time to disengage my thoughts from everything normal life. The second week was pure bliss. With my head clear I could really take in all the beauty around me. I could also think clearly about my options upon returning home. Time away gave me fresh perspective. I decided to take the job I had been offered.

Fresh perspective will never be found while trudging through life day after day doing the exact same things. That type of living gets us bogged down. We grow accustomed to the same smells, the same flavors, the same fabrics, and the same sights and sounds. Our senses become dulled, and life takes on a familiar cadence that at some point stops being life giving.

Here are a few ways to find fresh perspective:

• Take vacations – They do not need to be exotic or two weeks long. We need, however, to step away from our everyday routines. They hold our minds captive, sometimes to a dangerous degree.

• Go outside – There is magic in the freshness of nature. Whether it be a park, an old dirt road on the outskirts of town, or even the backyard – anywhere we find a clean breeze to blow on our faces can offer calm in the midst of our much.

• Do something new – Be wild and crazy and take a new route home for a change. Eat in a restaurant one town over. Go to Walmart at 10pm. Find some new places to set your feet. Things like these help us get out of our ruts.

We do not even have to try particularly hard to encounter something different. There are so many wonderful places to see that we could never possibly see them all. We need to experience life using all our senses. Then, we will have an easier time righting ourselves when we discover we have become off-center.