subject: Remove Your Sunglasses [print this page] I remember reading a poem about a man who had dropped his glasses into a pot of dye. When he put them back on everything was purple. What color do you perceive everything to be? What perceptions do you have of all things based on your own life experiences? Do you think that most people are honest or dishonest? Is everyone out to get you? What do you think about Republicans, Democrats, blacks, or whites. Whatever your preconceived notions you must divorce then so that you can sample the finer things in life. Our preconceptions will rob us of the smaller joys of life if we allow them to.
Don't be limited by your life's experiences. For example, I once knew a man who bragged about how well he could fish. When he took me to his fishing spots he would do very well. The problem was that he had been fishing those same spots for his entire life. Those were fresh water spots. When I took him salt water fishing he was lost. He couldn't
fish any better than any other amateur.
When we went to other fresh water places he couldn't fish those any better than anyone else. The thing is that whenever a fisherman visits a new body of water he must learn how to fish that body. A river is totally different from a lake which is totally different from a pond. A deep pond or lake is different from a shallow pond or lake. A clear water pond or lake is different from one where the water is stained.
Lets not be limited by our own experiences. Look outside of the things that you know to get to higher levels in life. You must move beyond your zone of comfort to experience new and higher heights. You may have mastered life in your profession or trade but it is only a small piece of the puzzle. There are innumerable hills left to climb but you have to see that they are there before you can conquer.
I was a karate student for some years back and I was very good. I would do well in my own school and in my organization when we would travel to tournaments because the tournaments were all inside of the organization. We all fought the same style of karate so if you won in a tournament you defeated a person who used the same style as you did.
When I entered the Army I met people from all other styles of karate and I couldn't handle them the way that I was used to handling people who were trained in my same style. I got into some situations that I had never experienced before and I didnt know how to handle them. My style was good but all have their advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes you have to do things differently to get results.
I was limited by my own style. I could do well in it because I knew it so well. When I was faced with something different it took me a while to adapt. The moral of this story is; Be open to new experiences. Take off those sunglasses and take the brakes off of your life. See everything in full color. Not as just what the filter of your own life shows you.
My nephew is experimenting with jet engine boats. He swears by this new technology and wants me to try it. I have gotten opinions from boat mechanics and fishermen alike. None of the people that I have talked to have a high opinion of the jet engines. I dont think that any of them have even tried the new technology.
