One
of the healthiest things we can do in this life is to open our minds. Open up
to new possibility, to new experiences. To open ourselves to have a new point
of view, or at least accept other views. To explore what we may have never explored
before. To be open to changing our perspective.
One story I like to share from time
to time in my classes is about a villager and his family. A villager lived in a
small house with his wife, mother in law, six children, a cow, and some
chickens. It was driving his absolutely crazy! So, he sought out a rabbi for
advice. The rabbi told him he could solve the problem…buy a goat. Overjoyed,
the man went and bought himself a goat. So now he had his wife, mother in law,
six children, a cow, chickens…and a goat. The house was even more chaotic.
Frustrated, he returned to the rabbi and told him about the chaos. Once again,
the rabbi told him he could fix the problem….sell the goat. The villager went
home and sold his goat. Suddenly all he had was his wife, mother in law, six
children, a cow, and some chickens. Things were positively peaceful without
that goat.
Order is just chaos repeated twice.
We should work to find a way of seeing that creates opportunities for us
to better ourselves and to recognize ourselves better. When we cling to one
point of view, we limit our ability to see what is right before us. All of life’s
challenges, if we learn to pay attention, can broaden our perspective. These
challenges help distinguish important from unimportant. We learn from this
expansion of our mindset, we gain more wisdom. It is with wisdom that we have
clarity of perspective.
“Enlightenment is in fact, nothing more and
nothing less than a radical change of perspective.” – Judith Lasater
