A New Pair of Glasses
Perspective and Pointing Fingers
I remember, years ago, standing in line at a Panera, desperately trying to read the menu board before it was my turn to order. I couldn’t figure out why, but the whole board was a blur. I think I even said out loud, “Is it foggy in here?”
And I was dead serious.
Whoever I was with must have told me to get my eyes checked because I did, shortly after that. Sure enough, it was time for glasses.
It strikes me that my first inclination was to assume something was wrong with the environment I was in rather than to wonder if something was amiss with me.
“I know myself. And reading menus has always been my strong suit. The only logical conclusion is fog. Inside a building. Who put this fog in here?”
Why are we like this?
Sure, many of us are really good at beating ourselves up. But it’s so easy—instinctual even—to point fingers elsewhere.
To be clear, sometimes it really is foggy in here. The environment is toxic, and the people are poison. It’s time to get out and go somewhere else.
But sometimes, as I recently heard Anne Lamott say,
“Sometimes Heaven is a new pair of glasses.”
I’d love to know how you see it. Join me in the comments!