Do You See What I See - more than a Christmas song!

I was enjoying a cup of coffee at a neighbor's house yesterday. As I looked out the window I noticed something I had not really seen before. Even though our homes are right next to one other, the view from her backyard is quite different from my own. There is a beautiful little pine tree that is hidden by some bushes from my perspective. And I realized that she cannot see the pond that is in clear view from my back yard.

As we all go thru life, I wonder how often we don't notice one an other's perspective. Yes, we know up front that there are those with different view points from our own - democrats and republicans, chocolate or vanilla, country, rap, new age, opera, and rock & roll music. You get the picture.

But what I am speaking about runs deeper. The realization and comprehension of not only different but endless perspectives in regard to one an other's daily circumstances opens up a magical door. It can bring us joy, peace, humor and comfort. Failure to realize and understand - to actually comprehend- the other person's perspective is the root of failure, sadness, divorce, despair, and war on levels great and small.

In my first blog I wrote about a very dear friend with a mysterious disease that is robbing her of her eyesight. Recently we spoke about what this is like for her. As she began to tell me that "if you put a patch over one eye and partially blocked the other", I sheepishly confess that I jumped ahead of her in my mind. I figured she was going to describe an experiment we did in college; it was for us to gain the perspective of what it would be like to suddenly go blind. I thought I knew what perspective she was taking.

Talk about getting it wrong! That is not at all where she went. Rather, she went on to explain that from this new viewpoint her other senses are so enhanced that it is as if she has a precious gift! What!? Not about what it is like to fumble around in the dark but how she now hears Christmas carols with a new clarity?

This is just one (positive) example about not realizing another person's perspective. What about those little arguments and disagreements that arise as the issues of the Holiday season are upon us? We all want joy and peace. Those values come to the forefront especially now. The challenge is to realize that each person goes about trying to achieve those values in so many different ways, from different perspectives ... And how we all get wound up when the stress is on.

So next time you are out there driving and someone cuts you off in traffic, or goes too slow or too fast from your perspective, just remember, they too are just trying to get thru their day the best they can. It may be someone speeding and driving carelessly because all they are thinking about is getting to the peacefulness of their home after a lousy day at work. It may be an older person needing to get to the store to buy a present for someone dearly special...but knowing that his senses have dulled, he drives very slowly to keep other people safe. It may be someone daydreaming because their mind is wrapped up in the worry about how they are going to pay the bills. It may be you doing these very things. There is no harm meant to others in all of these and many more examples. We all just forget sometimes that there are many perspectives.

Peace to you as you open that magical door to the realization that there are many perspectives.

Until next time.
Dr. DyAnn