Steinke Basin is one of my favorite places to walk. It’s an old friend – we’ve been together through so many seasons and so many years, we know each other intimately. Every inch of the trail is stored in my heart, and favorite memories fill my being. I know what’s around the corner and on the other side of the rise. I know where the best sitting rocks are located and where to watch for bottle gentian in the fall.

Each time I walk, I take the past experiences with me. This is the meadow where a snake often slithers through the grass at my feet. This is the stand of pine trees where a chipmunk chatters at me as I walk by. This is the hill where a buck walked parallel with me one autumn, matching my pace for three or four minutes before bounding off.

Yesterday I walked the loop trail backwards and had a profoundly different experience. I stopped recalling my memories at each spot along the trail, and I stopped thinking about what came next. The trail wasn’t as recognizable in reverse – the usual features were there, but from a new vantage point. My perspective had shifted. Instead I used my senses to drink in the present moment – enjoying the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet, the sweet smell of fall wildflowers, the glorious riot of color.

We as humans have so many routines. We eat the same favorite foods, and we get ready each morning in a systematic way. We drive to work by the same route, and we even take the same path through the grocery store. It’s no wonder that from time to time we find ourselves thinking or behaving rigidly.

When we have the awareness that we’re feeling stuck or stagnant in our lives, we can shake things up by trying something new. As silly as it sounds, taking a different route to work, shopping the aisles before the perimeter of the grocery store, learning a new hobby, or walking the dog around the block counterclockwise one evening can help us shift out of our rut. Varying a routine in one aspect of our life will often open up doorways in other areas.

Try it for yourself and see. Watch how your day unfolds differently if you put your socks on before the rest of your clothes. Or how the solution to a problem that’s been plaguing you at work suddenly pops to mind after having yogurt and granola instead of oatmeal for breakfast. Changing a habit often changes our perception.

What can you do differently today to bring about a shift in perspective?