Your World, My World

One of the things that I love about snowy days is that they reveal some of Nature’s secrets, things that as human beings, our senses aren’t sophisticated enough to notice. When I first looked out of the window this morning, I could see where my neighbour had crossed the road to his van when he left for work this morning, and where a cat had wandered through a gap in the fence.

When I take my dog for a walk, she ‘sees’ all these things. Her world is rich with information about who has passed by, where they stopped and how long ago they were there. She can smell these things, whereas I am only aware of them when it has snowed, and even then, only when the snow is fresh and there are few enough footprints for me to identify cat from dog, child from adult. As Taya steps out of the front door and raises her nose in the air, the picture she sees, or senses, is full of the busyness of life, rich with colour and shapes, like a picture in a Richard Scarry book. This is her world, mine is far simpler in comparison.

It is important to remember to respect that we all have different views of the world. What is significant to me may hold very little import to someone else, and likewise, something they feel strongly about may pass me by.

I attended a workshop with Byron Katie at the weekend and in the process she calls The Work, she highlights how, just because we think one thing, doesn’t mean someone else will think it too. If we judge someone we care about for something they have done, or the way they have behaved, it doesn’t mean they are wrong, it just means that it is wrong in our world. The way Byron Katie tests this is by asking the question “Is that true?” – consider before responding, “..or is that your opinion?”

The next time you tie yourself up in knots whilst judging someone else’s behaviour, stop and think for a while and ask yourself whether it is possible that in their world they have done absolutely nothing wrong and don’t realise the way you feel, it could spare you a great deal of heartache.