Originally posted on Facebook HERE
We all have our own unique way of looking at things. No two people see life through the exact same lenses. Whether it’s politics, religion, sports, who’s the best actor/actress of all-time, or any number of other topics, we’ll never see 100% eye to eye with anyone else, ever. At some point, we’re going to disagree with another persons opinion or decision. What if we vehemently disagree with something someone else thinks? They like the exact politician you hate? The are fans of the bitter rivals of your favorite sports team? They make a decision to do something you absolutely can’t get behind?… how do you react? I used to get into long “conversations” on politics and religion with people who felt differently than I did. I put “conversations” in quotation marks, because what they really were was arguments. Arguments where both of us thought we had the answer, and tried to convince the other person they were wrong. I gave those types of “conversations” up years ago, as I really started to feel like – what’s the point? Nobody ever changed anybody else’s opinion at all. In those cases, both sides just usually wound up digging in deeper to what they already felt. Now I really just try to figure out, “why would someone feel the way they do on this topic?”. Just because I’ve always looked at something one way, or have a strong opinion about what I think is right – doesn’t make it so. In fact, sometimes it pays to just really take a long, hard look at our own beliefs and attitudes. If we apply the 80/20 rule to life – 20% of our activities bring 80% of our results… could you figure out what your 20% would be? Where are you the happiest and most productive? What if you made a conscious choice to spend more time on the 20%?… weed out anything that wasn’t a “top 20” decision?… you might find your world would flip upside down a bit. Some things you once held as dear might not seem so dear to you anymore… and, as we age out thoughts and opinions change as well. What if every instinct you ever had was wrong? Are there any “wrong” decisions, or do we just make them so in our minds? Look at your life from all angles. Every now and then you’ll hit one that opens a rabbit hole to a new way of thinking that could expand everything for you, if you remain open to the idea that – sometimes, we’re totally wrong when we think we’re 100% correct. I will post a link below to “The Cookie Thief” story as an example of this… flip your world upside down every now and then, and shake it. Consider options you never consider. Focus your days, your moments on the things that matter the most. And try not to be so quick to anger if something or someone pushes one of your buttons. Sometimes it’s the buttons that other people push that hold our greatest lessons once we step back and look into it with an open and honest assessment of why it is we’re so upset in the first place.
