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“Perhaps the relationship between my eyes and brain extends to how I “see” everything. What would happen if I could see another person’s point of view? Or be willing to accept that I’m not seeing the whole picture…ever? Maybe I might look at my fellow humans with new eyes.” – Lavinia Plonka
Several years ago, this elderly gentleman shared this story with me.
This elderly gentleman mentioned that he was leaving a parkade after parking his car and bumped into the security guard that was monitoring the site.
The security guard seemed a bit frustrated as he was continually telling motorists not to park in the fire lane, as it was a hazard for emergency vehicles.
No one was listening as they simply went around the block and then returned back to the building that was always crowded as people were going in and out.
As the elderly gentleman left the parkade, the security guard exited at exactly the same time in order to tell a motorist for the third time that he was violating the parking ordinance.
You could hear the argument as the elderly gentleman was leaving the area to go about his business.
Soon thereafter, the individual that was being chastised by the security guard began to follow the elderly gentleman with his car.
At first, the individual in question rolled down his window and began to utter threats to the elderly gentleman.
The elderly gentleman was shocked, as he had no clue why this person was lashing out at him.
As they both approached the intersection, the irate individual ‘s threats escalated.
He said, “You’re a judgmental (expletive) old man so stay out of my business.”
As I heard this story, it was obvious that the irate individual assumed that the elderly gentleman reported the parking infraction to the security guard.
Truth be told, the elderly gentleman was minding his own business.
So here’s the crux of this short story.
Perception is always in the eye of the beholder. The irate individual perceived that the elderly gentleman finked on him.
His perception was incredibly flawed.
In other circumstances and especially in these unprecedented times when emotions are high, explosive results might have been the result of this flawed perception.
Experiencing life with an inner eye of understanding always supersedes our physical eyes.
It doesn’t take much to arouse the amygdala.
We must all move past the five sensory factors and utilize our sixth sense.
Awareness.
Respond and not react!
As soon as the insatiable ego steps into the mix, everything begins to go south. Common sense, logic and everything else that has the ability to stabilize the communication is out the window. The amygdala now kicks everything into high gear and explosive emotions derail any possible solution.
Awareness provides you with that sixth sense that leads and guides you towards intelligent and proactive decisions.
In essence, it’s all about defusing potentially, explosive, destructive, and meaningless drama by eradicating the ego, reaction, and emotion from the mix to the best of our ability.
Carpe Momentum
Coach Franco Cianflone
1 ON 1 COACHING
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Mental Toughness For Life