The reality that we perceive to exist is totally dependent on the perspective from which we choose to perceive it.
I was reminded of this in dramatic fashion this week…
[box type=\”shadow\”]\”Only rarely is a situation itself the problem. Mostly the real problem is how we think about the situation.\”
– Barbel Mohr[/box]
If you\’ve ever seen the popular illustration and optical illusion which, at first glance, looks distinctly like the face of a beautiful young woman to some – and an ugly old hag to others – then you\’ll relate to the message contained in this week\’s blog.
A rather nasty accident
My daughter and her friend walked away unscathed earlier this week from a rather nasty car accident on a constricted piece of road near where we live.
With her brand new 21st birthday present all but a write off she was – quite understandably – quick to dwell on how dreadful this was and what might have happened had the car\’s safety equipment not performed the way it did.
A gift
The friendly local restaurant owner, on hand at the scene to dole out hot, sugary tea to the shocked car occupants had other ideas.
\”This is a gift to you,\” she said warmly.
\”It may be difficult to come to terms with right now but try not to look at this from the point of view of what might have happened but rather what has happened. Nobody has been hurt, thankfully, and your car is fully insured. You have had an experience that you can learn from and that will stand you in good stead in future.\”
The hall of mirrors
The following is an adaptation of an old parable that featured in Barbel Mohr\’s work: \’The Cosmic Ordering Service\’.
I felt it worth sharing with you…
Once upon a time an ancient king had a hall of mirrors built in his palace to entertain his guests.
One morning after a long night of celebration, after the banquet was over and all the guests had left, one of the king’s pet dogs wandered into this hall of mirrors and became disoriented, not knowing how to get out.
He growled and barked and saw himself surrounded by a thousand other dogs, baring their fangs and snarling at him. With each of his barks was the echo of a thousand others.
The valiant dog got more and more aggressive as he sought to defend himself all alone from those thousand opponents. Eventually he became so out of control and reached such a state that he dropped dead, exhausted from the extreme exertion.
Some time passed before another of the king\’s dogs found his way into the same hall of mirrors. This dog too felt unsure of the way to go.
But on seeing that he was surrounded by one thousand dogs of his own kind, he started to wag his tail with joy at all the canine company.
In return, one thousand dogs wagged their tails back at him. Happy and encouraged by all his friends, he soon managed to find a way out of the hall.
Hi Bill,
Great parable about perspective. It reminds me of that other wonderful quest parable The twelfth century Sufi Poem, The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-Din Attar, which also features a hall of mirrors as the ultimate learning experience.
I would also suggest that every person we interact with holds up a mirror to us if we are self-aware and prepared to see what it shows us. Our reactions to the mirrors that others hold up can tell us a great deal about ourselves.
Thanks for the insights really enjoyable and thought-provoking.
Kind regards,
Di
One thing that i have noticed is the power of asking positive questions.Once a person has taught himself this process, quality answer will come looking for him. Good article indeed.
Yes Yes, for start we can not reverse an event and we are talking of something which has happened and the NOW is we collect the lessons and thank God for what is left and his protection. Positively we move on, great attitude
I loved this Bill – the hall of mirrors story! Reminded me of the other quote “A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror” Ken Keyes, Jnr
Great quote!
Thankyou Bill!
What an awesome miracle your daughter experienced. Something similar happened to my son and it made us realize how absolutely precious our loved one’s are.
I am learning more and more how important attitude(perception) is. The more I love life, the more life is loving me. Its absolutely great.
Yes – it’s a wonderful virtuous cycle!
happy that the occupants of the car are save & feeling good. This article couldn’t have come at the right time for me. Thanks a lot!
I’ll take it you mean ‘couldn’t have come at a better time’ 🙂
That’s great, I’m very pleased.
So true. God is in control, i am glad your daughter is okay. On the matter of what we perceive, it is a slow walk, but it takes decisive action on our part to change. They say change is as good as a holiday.
And the funny thing is that change is not to be feared but really quite fun – when you get used to it, which takes courage in the beginning.
Sorry about the accident but very pleased that your daughter and friend are safe. It is a traumatic experience for any one but good that she had support around her.
Thanks Lorraine
Very good. How we each perceive our situation, determines how our attitude to that situation and to life will be. Grasp it as an opportunity and move on or sit back and sulk and fade away into nothing. Choice is ours.
Powerful!
So true – one’s persepctive is critical in determining outcomes, both real and preceived So too is one’s attitude, and of course the two are linked. I always like the little saying that “Altitude is determined by attitude, not aptitude”. It may be a bit cliche’d, but there is no doubt that one’s attitude in any situation will affect the perspecitve from which one sees it, and will affect the percieved outcome for the person / people involved.
Very true. Thanks for this!
14 of us have just been retrenched from our company, whilst some of the ladies are burdened with this move, i feel emancipated.i have a chance to persue my true calling.God is great
I like your attitude.. a positive mind will get you far… i have a collegue in my company that was retrenched from to carreers in a row.. he got fed up with been retrenched by a boss… so became his own boss. he joined a mlm business and now is a world leader director , making enough money to live comfartable….. so dont look at your retrenchment as a bad thing.. something God puts you in this situation to enforce you to look at helping yourself…….. it is so easy to make up your mind to look at this situation full on and take control of your life… if you want ot know more about what i have to offer then contact me,,, look into my website…
Yes, I agree. You can look at retrenchment as a disaster, offensive, an insult, etc. or you can look at it as the opportunity for a new beginning! Well done.