{"id":11736,"date":"2021-06-09T08:31:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T12:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11736"},"modified":"2021-06-09T08:34:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T12:34:18","slug":"blinders-new-lenses-a-shiny-red-volvo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11736","title":{"rendered":"blinders, new lenses & a shiny red Volvo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Watched a poignant video this week\u2026 (and no, I refer not to professional golfer John Rahm being told he had tested positive for COVID-19 even though asymptomatic but after leading the PGA\u2019s  Memorial tournament by 6 strokes at the end of the third day \u2014 which means he was forced to withdraw only 18 holes from a potential $1,674,000 winner\u2019s payout. That was more painful than poignant\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A young business professional sets off to start the day. He exits the house, shuts the door, well dressed for whatever the workday entails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rushes down the steps, heads to his car, quickly jumping in, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the drive. He narrowly misses maybe a 9 year old boy going behind him on his skateboard. He hits the brake in disgust, shaking his head, when we hear him think, \u201cThat kid. Every time I\u2019m pulling out, he\u2019s right there. Man, somebody needs to talk to his parents\u2026 IF they\u2019re ever home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gentleman resumes his commute, soon coming to a stop due to significant congestion. \u201cWhat is with the traffic today? Always, everyday. This intersection\u2019s always crowded! I hate pulling out of here\u2026 these dumb roads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He passes the intersection \u2014 and more traffic \u2014 and soon spots an open, desirable parking space. At the last minute, a shiny red Volvo pulls in ahead of him. Scoffing, no doubt, we hear him again, talking to himself. \u201cOk, so I\u2019m not even here. Right! Great, lady \u2014 the \u2018Princess of Parking.\u2019 Sure, take the spot.\u201d He then glares at her vehicle on the way past. \u201cWay to be considerate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, though, it\u2019s time to at least grab some caffeine prior to office arrival. He opens the door to the local cafe, but is immediately repulsed once more when he sees the line of people before him. \u201cAre you kidding me?!*^$&! Unbelievable.\u201d This time it\u2019s almost as if his disgust is said out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.2 minutes later he has made his way to the front of the line. \u201cIt\u2019s about time,\u201d he thinks to himself, well aware of the imposition all others have been on him. As he debates what he wants, a customer nudges in front of him, asking the barista to add a cookie to his order. \u201cNo problem, only guy in the world! I\u2019m sure you need your cookie.\u201d His head continues to emphatically shake, visible to any who are watching\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When finally able to order his tall, decaf macchiato, the barista collects his cash but also alerts him that \u201cit might take a few minutes\u201d due to the volume in the coffee shop today; the barista even, actually thanks the young professional for his patience. The man quietly nods, closes his eyes a bit, like \u201cof course, I\u2019ve been patient,\u201d only uttering \u201cgreat,\u201d but inside his head adding, \u201cyeah, great. Great for me. Waiting again\u201d \u2014 and another \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then while waiting, a stranger steps near, a stranger who hands our young professional a fresh case of eyeglasses. His proximity is clearly unwelcome, but the unspoken encouragement to accept the glasses and put them on is hesitantly, eventually accepted. He puts on the glasses. And sees things anew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through his newfound vision, the people in the room now come with unarticulated, previous unseen captions\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discontent with life\u2026 avoids relationships for fear of pain\u2026 struggling with sense of purpose\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man begins to see people in a way before that he could not\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is that? What in the world?!\u201d he exclaims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He looks closer \u2014 confused by what his eyes now see\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has never known true friendship\u2026 recently lost his job\u2026 fighting addiction\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All these descriptions of people that he couldn’t see before. He takes the glasses on and off. Is this really happening?! He can only see what\u2019s really going on when donning the empathetic lenses. He keeps playing with them, getting his drink, and exiting the shop. He can\u2019t take it anymore. \u201cI\u2019ve gotta get out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But with the glasses still on, he sees more in others outside, too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just needs a hug\u2026 works 2 jobs to feed her kids\u2026 grieving her best friend\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cgrieving her best friend\u201d caption was assigned to the woman driving the shiny red Volvo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of the video was that eyesight changes insight. We tend to only see what we want to see, not taking the time and discernment to recognize what\u2019s going on in the life of others. We make the mistake of being ignorant of our own blinders\u2026 blinders that lead to impatience, disgust, and arrogance of opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenses matter, friends. They change the way we see other people. They also alter the justification we allow for our own thinking and behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Note: if desired, catch entire video <\/em>HERE<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u2014 and how the young man interacts once more with the boy and his skateboard. \ud83d\ude42 ]<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watched a poignant video this week\u2026 (and no, I refer not to professional golfer John Rahm being told he had tested positive for COVID-19 even though asymptomatic but after leading the PGA\u2019s  Memorial tournament by 6 strokes at the end of the third day \u2014 which means he was forced to withdraw only 18 holes … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “blinders, new lenses & a shiny red Volvo”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11736"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11744,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11736\/revisions\/11744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}