The sun sets on another day…
As I watched for the sunset I thought about how perceptions change, and in a moment I smiled, laughed and was sullen as the clouds hid the sunset, but I knew it was there.
I like to read. I think many people who read here know that. I actually read a great deal and enjoy reading almost everything. There is a book called the Physics of Star Trek and it explains how Warp doesn’t mean you are going faster but that the universe seems smaller. (A simple way to put it but you can read it if you like and I would enjoy the feedback). Anyway, I was thinking about how the world changes when you experience it differently, or see the world in a new way. There are key events in your life that guide your life, and many that are crossroads or pivot points to new places or new decisions. What we don’t sometimes see is when our view of the world changes.
Let me explain.
There were many perspective changing events in my life, so I will focus on 1.When I was 16 I got a car. (Ohh, ahh). No, it was not a new car like so many people buy their kids nowadays, nor was it anything expensive. it was several years old, and believe it or not was owned by an old lady before me who barely drove it. When I got the car my world changed some. I was no longer burdened with walking or bike riding distances, but instead now had a vehicle that got me from A to M in the time it used to take me to get from A to B. My perspectives changed. Distance was no longer some huge issue to be over considered, but now was just another factor in an equation. This was a small change in my perspectives, but I already knew of everything from getting rides and having to be places in a hurry.
It was later that my perspectives changed seriously. I had been following the rules. Being good, and always trying to do the right thing in spite of myself. I often did what was right at the detriment of myself (and I often still do). But, and this is a big but and I cannot lie, I found a way to change how I saw everything. Rules were rules, but sometimes those rules needed to be bent to see more or live more. There was a smaller set of roads past where I lived in Lexington. Out in the country there was a road that now is a bike trail in a subdivision. Then, it was all farmland and a small paved road. I had barely broken the speed limit before, but on a certain day I drove this area to try to see someone, and in the process was alone, on a road, with no one around. I pressed the gas, not a little but a little more and was rewarded with speed. I should have been afraid, I should have seen less, but my world opened up and details became clearer and clearer of the bigger picture around me. As the speedometer pinned I was pumped, exhilarated, and downright overly aware of everything, and then I slowed down and the world all seemed a little different. I was driving the speed limit and everything around me seemed slower.
My perception was changed forever.
How was it with you? It is usually different for everyone. Did you see the world anew after a speech? After an event? Some work function? some home function? A life? A death? Or are you still waiting for that thing that will change you and your vision for all time? Only you know for sure, and only you know how your world changed. Think about it for a moment, and consider all the other changes that made you who you are today, then set it aside and have some fun.
So as the sun sets on another day, we are all creatures of our experience, but we are also all the experiences of our own choosing. Take a moment and laugh a little. Take a moment and keep growing. Take a moment and see the world with new eyes every day and find those key elements that open your mind always, no matter what. Do so, and I bet you will enjoy your times even more.
Sleep sweet, love life, and live long and prosper…