PERSPECTIVE
What if I were to tell you that the first piece of electronics that I ever repaired was a laser gun, and that I once held a top secret security clearance and have seen the inside of government bunkers and have worked on time machines.?
One might say I'm either a liar or delusional. But I tell you that all these things are true. It's simply a matter of perspective and how things are framed. We are used to seeing and hearing things framed in a certain way and then believing that this is how things are.
For example- during the last U.S. Election - before the votes were tallied up – Donald Trump expressed a concern that the votes might have been tampered with – to which both Obama and Clinton summarily dismissed – Obama saying that “There is no serious person out there who would suggest that you could even rig America's elections" and that Trump should put more focus on getting votes rather worry about the election being rigged. Hillary Clinton went on to say that it was “un-American” to question the voting system and belittled Trump for suggesting such a thing.
Yet – as soon as Trump won the elections – both Obama AND Hillary changed their minds and were suddenly absolutely SURE that the election had been tampered with. Their perspective had changed. And so did the media's perspective. They went from saying that election fraud was impossible to saying that it was highly likely – even though absolutely no evidence can be found to substantiate such allegations.
Perspective can frame the way we look at things and many times our perspective comes from how we were raised, what we have experienced and the things that we've learned. The thing to remember about perspective is that it is malleable – meaning that it can change easily. If you look at a tree from the side it will look like a pole – but the exact same tree viewed from directly above it – will look vastly different – yet – it is the exact same thing. You may describe the tree as round looking from the top - circular, with puffy edges – but someone else can be looking at the exact same tree may describe a long tall pole - two different answers for the same object – yet neither of them are wrong. It's simply that from where they are viewing it – the perspective is different.
This is why you can ask 10 people at the scene of an accident what happened and get 10 different answers. Perspective skews the way we see things and sometimes this is a good thing and other times it is bad. Its important to understand that we should recognize the perspective from which we are viewing things. If your looking at that tree from above – and only see it as a circular form - you cannot see the whole picture. To fully understand what the tree looks like , you must see from multiple angles.
Why discuss perspective? Because we use it in our everyday lives and it paints the way we see things. Understanding that there are many perspectives to view a situation from , gives us more empathy and flexibility. It allows us to see things from another persons view and perhaps to rethink our own assumptions abut things. By not being willing to change our perspective , we are saying that we are not willing to learn more about a person or situation. When it comes to making decisions, we should have all the information available to make sound choices and seeing a situation from different sides helps you to gather valuable data. So keep that in mind before making snap decisions about people or things – be sure you have looked at the situation from a viewpoint other than your own to ensure that you are seeing all sides of it.
Laser Guns, Top Secrets, and Time Machines
Oh … my first electronics repair? It was Laser Tag laser gun that my cousin threw away when it suddenly stopped working. I took it out of the garbage and started messing with it – I took it apart and it simply had some loose wires that I tightened up and got it working again – viola! I fixed my first laser gun! Of course he wanted it back after that and despite my protests, my father made me give it back to him because it was “ his” ( even though he had already thrown it in the garbage).
My top secret security clearance? Standard procedure when you are in the army and work on an airfield like I did – my entire squadron all had top secret security clearance – because we had access to the number of aircraft, locations, flight plans, pilot names, etc. Incidentally – this is where I spent time in military bunkers - I never said they were deep underground or held aliens or anything like that – I simply said that I have SEEN the inside military bunkers – boring old military buildings that stored a bunch of junk - they're not very exciting either by the way.
And finally – yes – I have worked on time machines. A small company in Fresno, installs and maintains “time clocks” - you know those little boxes that you put a punch card in when you get to work and before you go home....well .. it's a machine.. and it's function is centered around time – therefore it can be called a 'time machine” and believe me .. I had fun telling people I worked on time machines.
So don't forget that perspective can change the way you view things
Please be sure to check out my others articles on real estate, investing , and cryptocurrency ( and some other random dog stuff)