Traffic Noise or River Sound?

Here is a tale of perspective.

A couple of weeks ago I was walking with friend and dogs along the Snake River in Jackson, Wyoming. For miles, our path skirted the river. On the other side of the river, and the other side of our path were woods. We quickly left behind the road from which we had accessed the river trail. It was a busy road. Amazingly busy, because the sound of the traffic followed us down the path. A mile, and still I could hear the traffic noise. I couldn’t believe it. Here we were, in the middle of an astonishingly beautiful nowhere – and traffic noise? Must be a road beyond the woods on the other side of the river? Mindful of my positive attitude, I kept my silence as long as I could. “I can’t believe it,” I finally said. “I can’t believe I can still hear cars.” My friend looked at me like my head was on upside-down (well, it does happen from time to time), and said, “Cars? That’s the sound of the river.” I stopped. Listened. It was the river! And in a heartbeat an annoying noise became a beautiful song.

It’s all about perspective.

Something else to think about – if I hadn’t put myself in a position to take a second look at the situation, how much longer might I have labored under a completely unjustified irritation?

That’s what we do in life. We look at something, interpret it through our unique mix of experiences, biases, and emotions, and come up with what to us is the only interpretation. Often, we are as wrong as I was on the riverbank that day.

The big lesson here is that, rightly or wrongly, we create our reality. So, if something doesn’t look good from the first angle you view it from, why not try another angle? When the first conclusion you jump to makes you feel bad, look for a conclusion that makes you feel good. And then stick with it. In other words, create the reality that suits you best. See only what you want to see. If you’re going to carry around something, make it something worth carrying around.