How often do we look at something and think we know everything there is to know about it? Why do we think we are right?! More importantly, are we willing to entertain the possibility that we are wrong!?
I’ve been working on “Seeing Real” more often. What exactly is that? Good question! Read on, I’ll share some of what I’ve learned!
If they only knew
I read a post recently, that seriously diss’ed on one of my FAVORITE places ever. They described it as “boring”, “doesn’t live up to the hype” and my personal favorite “the only exciting thing about the place is it’s name” … !
All I could think was, if they only knew!
The Pool of the Winds
The Pool of the Winds intrigued me from the moment I read about it! Back before ‘internet searchable hiking trails’, I stumbled across an ‘old-school’ paper description and promptly planned a trip! I even dragged my family out camping at Beacon Rock in MARCH(!) … instead of waiting ’til summer like normal, sane people!
We completely froze that night, but I still managed to talk everyone into the hike before heading home for hot showers. We were all so glad I did!
The Pool of the Winds was incredible and like nothing we’d ever experienced before! We were completely BLOWN away!
Unbelievable!
It was a river dumping fiercely into a circular, rock bowl with a narrow crack in the face of it. The force of the falls hitting the water surface in that small bowl, created an absolute torrent of churn & waves so powerful, that the wind bursting thru the narrow crack completely stole every ounce of breath from anyone trying to look inside!
Even attempting to peer thru the opening for more than a few moments was impossible! But we just kept trying because it was such an AMAZING experience getting completely BLOWN away!
You can imagine my frustration at hearing someone say “the only exciting thing about the place was it’s name” … !?!
Completely Robbed
Unfortunately, a handful of years ago, a simple, unremarkable tree, fell right in the path of the falls, completely robbing the Pool of it’s WIND.
Now, instead of crashing the water’s surface, the falls slides smoothly, quietly down the tree … rendering this extraordinarily unique treasure, decidedly unimpressive. Still beautiful, but without the WIND, the Pool is NOTHING like the amazing experience it had been.
Obviously, the author of that post didn’t know they weren’t actually seeing the full experience of the Pool of the Winds.
Seeing Real
How often do we do that too? Look at something and decide we know everything there is to know … ? Maybe not so much about waterfalls but definitely situations
… and people.
Likely, we all remember a time where we “looked and decided”, before we “learned and fully understood”.
It would help to remember that:
WE DON’T SEE THE WORLD AS IT IS, WE SEE THE WORLD AS WE ARE.
We filter what we see in the world around us
thru the ‘lens of ourselves’ … which means,
we don’t always see things as they really are.
Here’s a simple example:
As a caregiver to a disabled family member, every time I see another caregiver, I see someone that desperately needs a break.
But am I REAL-LY seeing *their* need
… or am I seeing *my own*?
It could be theirs, sure! But unless they actually tell me, I don’t know. So REAL-LY what I’m seeing is my own need mirrored back at me.
Instead of seeing the world as it is, I am seeing it as I am.
SEEING REAL
then means we can differentiate between what
we see from our “internal mirror” versus
what is really there.
It means understanding ourselves
well enough that we are open to what something REAL-LY is rather than what we need, want or have already decided it must be.
The better I can SEE REAL in myself, the
better I will SEE REAL in the world around me.
From Mirror to Window
Ok, so this is alot easier said than done! But here’s a few things I’ve learned that definitely help!
Anytime I find myself “storytelling”, i.e. creating a story in my head about something I see … it helps if I can stop and ask myself:
“What if I’m wrong about that?”
“Am I willing to consider something different than the story I’m telling myself?”
If I can’t …
Then I will ONLY ever see the world AS I AM … with everything filtered by MY needs, MY wants, MY experiences.
But! If I can …
Then I will have a brief opportunity, just for a moment, to change that “internal mirror” into a window and SEE REAL inside myself.
I will SEE that
the story I tell myself in my head ALWAYS says more about me
than anything or anyone else
I might also SEE where
I’m allowing my own “fallen trees” … the things that are robbing
my ability to be AMAZING in my own life!
Bringing it back!
To the author of that post … and anyone who has visited The Pool of the Winds since the fallen tree: I wish you could SEE the REAL experience! It was truly unbelievable!
Hopefully, someday, “fallen trees”, wherever they may be and whatever awesomeness they may be robbing, can be removed … Bringing AMAZINGNESS back where it belongs!
Experiencing that might just BLOW us all away!
