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So, how many dimensions are there to your perspective?  My guess if you have been a regular patron of any Starbuck’s on the planet you have come to learn of their unique brand concept known as, “The Third Place.”  Essentially, the thought behind this is that they want to ensure that you equate the Starbuck’s experience synonymously with that of your home or your office.  In other words, enjoying a comforting cup of coffee at Starbuck’s is seen and felt as a seamless experience such that it becomes your “third place.”  In your mind’s eye they become one in the same.  The power of a brand!  Well, I’d like for us to consider for a moment something I believe that is even more powerful. Instead of thinking about the “Third Place,” I’d like for us to take a look at something I’m calling “The 3^rd Way.”  This speaks to the power of perspective. 

Let’s take the way in which you think about life.  First, there is always what we deem to be the obvious.  For many of us this is the end of the line with our thinking and the thought train stops at this station.  Others might take their thinking one step further and arrive at the alternative thought.  Well, I’d like to suggest that there is a “3^rd Way” as you consider honing the various dimensions of your perspective on life.  That is to consider the counterintuitive. Though the obvious can often times be the quickest route it can keep us at the surface and lacking a fully-orbed perspective on just about anything.  The alternative however can give us a glimpse into what might lie just beneath the surface enabling us to discover new territories in our thinking. But when we begin to gain perspective through the lens of the counterintuitive we begin to move beyond our head and towards our heart.  Just think about this.  What if we could get out of our head and begin to move seamlessly to our heart in all matters of life?  In fact, how might our perspective on life look different if we were to see life through the lens of our heart?  Might we be tempted to “lead with love?” It seems seeing life through the counterintuitive is the only way one could arrive at the understanding that to lose is to gain, or to give is better than to get, or to be first is to be last.  I would contend that to get to the wellspring of our heart we have to begin to think in the “3^rd Way,” the counterintuitive.  Think of it this way, common sense resides in our head while the motive to let’s say, find strength in weakness can only come from our heart.  Doesn’t it seem unnatural that we would get stronger as we tell others about our struggles?  We do though.  There is indeed strength in transparency.  For many of us the intentional pursuit of the “3^rd Way” will definitely take us to new depths of understanding and perspective on how to navigate this thing we call, life.  Give it a try and see what you find. You might just discover that beyond the “3^rd Way” is the “Only Way.” Peace.

Jon Thurman

https://jonthurman.com/2012/06/29/the-3rd-way/