Sunday, August 05, 2007

The Right Perspective

We must learn to sees things in the right perspective.

For centuries, even great scientists strongly believed that the sun revolved around the earth. During that time, people thought that they are right seeing the sun rose in the east and set in the west, not knowing that they are seeing with the wrong perspective.

Perspective is not what we see, but the way we see it. We could either fail to see the forest for the trees, or forget that the forest is indeed made up of many trees if we don’t see things in the right perspective.

"There are always three sides to every story: your side, the other side, and the truth." - Anonymous

"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Abraham H. Maslow

Let's take a look at this story:

Who is Rich and Who is Poor?

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son. "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

(Source: Internet; Author Unknown)

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? It makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

“You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective.” - Denis Waitley

"For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them." - Seneca

Let's remember to appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Do you agree?

Photo 1 by McBeth taken from this source
Photo 2 by locket479 taken from this source

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

We should look at things at all angles. Different angles give us different information and only full inforamtion give us the correct answer. Don't jump to conclusion, always put yourself in other's shoe.

Sam Chan said...

That's right! When we look at things at all angles, we can see things from a different perspective. With full information, then one can eventually sees things in the right perspective!

Thank you, Honman for adding your insight views!

Best wishes to you, Honman!

Anonymous said...

I love that photo!

Talking about perspective, we can always make use of reframing to change our thoughts into more empowering ones!

surjit singh said...

A wondeul quote:
"There are always three sides to every story: your side, the other side, and the truth."
Sam, you have narrated a beautiful and thought provoking story to make home your insight.
A great lesson from the little boy.
Thanks and good luck.

Sam Chan said...

Hi SJ Yee,

Baby photos are always very cute :-)

Yes, reframing - the art of changing meaning (NLP) can always be used to change our thoughts!

Thank you for your suggestion.

Best Wishes

Sam Chan said...

Surjit, thanks for your continued support! I am glad that you liked this post

Good luck.

mr fong said...

This is FANTASTIC.thanks sam,loads.

Unknown said...

Yes, I agree... it is well to appreciate every little thing.

Comparing ourselves to others never is good... there will always be greater and lesser in the eyes of the world!

Nice thought Sam,

Jen

Christinehaze is SC's author said...

this a wonderful passage...I do like it a lot.

Also quotes are great relations to the story...

thanks for sharing

Sam Chan said...

Hi Mr Fong,
Thanks for your continued support and interest in what I do.

Best Wishes

Sam Chan said...

Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for adding your insightful views. I really value your participation.

I can see that you had been bestowed with great wisdom and understanding! Indeed, it is never good to compare ourselves with others!

Have a good day, my friend!

Sam Chan said...

Hi Haze,

Thanks for giving me your feedback. I really appreciate it.

Have a great day!
Best Wishes

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the perspective but I can't help but notice the underlying messages in this story. It associates city life with money, possessions and shallowness while depicting country life as being the opposite. It grossly generalises city people as being shallow, anti-environment, anti-family and anti-animals. Inhumane second class citizens with little regard for anything deeper than their earthly possessions.

When reading innocent tales full of loaded underlying messages like the one below please remember to think about the message(s). If you don't, it could lead your thought patterns into dangerous territory - the life of a human that discriminate or alienate others or someone that retract from other humans because they are different or they aren't the same nationality or race. Even worse, you could become a person that remove yourself from society altogether. Someone that live only for themselves and try to avoid anything and everything that doesn't comply with their idea of what the world should be.

Coming back to the tale, in my experience it doesn't matter where you are in the world, city or country, the one always has something the other envies or despises - and rightfully so. None of the things mentioned in the story is necessarily unique to the country or the city - We Create Our Own Reality.

The only part I agree with in the story is the last two lines. We should count each and every one of our blessings but can we please spread the word without the propaganda.

B. Free

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