Have you ever looked into the faces of the players of a team that just won a championship? What about the losing team? It really brings home the idea that looking at the same situation from different sides can make a huge difference. I recently heard a story about a man who offered a homeless man a sandwich in lieu of money. When the homeless man refused him, he walked away mad. How dare the homeless person refuse his food. Obviously he only wanted the money to buy drugs. In that moment, he decided to U-turn his thought process and see things from another vantage point. So he walked back to the homeless man and asked him why he refused his food. The man said it was because he already had dinner for the night so he turned the sandwich down because he didn’t want it to spoil and go to waste.
Robert Evans once said, “There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each differently.”
This is what we need to strive to remember in our everyday lives. So, when we are talking to someone who identifies as transgender, or republican, or Jewish, instead of pointing out obvious differences, what if we stopped to look for similarities? What if we took the time to understand why the other person feels and thinks the way they do? Notice I did not say that we should abandon our own beliefs and agree with the other person. I am simply saying that we should seek to acknowledge their beliefs. After all, at the core, we are all human beings seeking a higher purpose in this life.
Seeing things from a different vantage point can cause us to view the whole world through a different lens. Just like with a camera, when we change lenses, our focus changes and our world can become distorted. Suddenly views are no longer “wrong” or “right;” they just are. Someone else’s views are no longer something we feel like we have to change, but a way to peer into their soul by listening with an open heart and mind. So, distort your world this week. Pretend that up is down, the sky is pink, and 1+1=11. The miraculous thing is that when you allow yourself to look through other lenses, you will see that all of these things can be true.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” I urge you to rejoice in the commonality of human beings and the opportunity to view the world through other’s lenses.
Charlie Miller is an entrepreneur, public speaker, and master basketball trainer. He has owned his business, ATTACK Basketball Academy for 6 years and is passionate about mentoring the youth of today. You can contact him by email at charlie@attackbball.com.
