Friday, July 16, 2010

The Vision of Beyond


<strong>The Vision of Beyond>

Introduction: Who is a seer? Seer is a person, a prophet who has the gift of seeing beyond the present situation into the future. In other words he or she is a person who possesses the vision of beyond. What once was thought to be the gift of exclusive class- the seers, is now the general requirement of every successful entrepreneur. Very few people in this world actually have developed this art of seeing beyond the present situation into the future. Most of us are victims of the disease called Myopia in ophthalmologic terms. Myopia is short- sightedness. A person can only see the things that are near him. He has trouble to see the things which are far off. In figurative sense, if I borrow the term we all have myopia when we look at different situations that encounter us on day to day basis. For example, what happens when troubles besiege you from all sides? You are overwhelmed with disappointment and discouragement and many of us become guilty of giving up at the first try. This is because we cannot see beyond the troubles that besiege us. But then there are people who have developed gifted eyesight that sees the situation not as it is but what it could be. They are the people who are ready to face the short-term losses for long term benefits. They are the people who will brave the storm knowing that it would lead them to discover new promised lands. In this article we will try to see how we could develop that blessed eyesight which sees opportunities in difficulties, blessings in misfortunes, light in obscurity and life in mortality.

Physical Eyesight tells us half-truth: Remember what we see with our physical eyes is limited. You could look at a caterpillar and feel the ugly itches it gives to your body and never see it of any use. But your eyesight is telling you only the half truth. We all know that one day the same caterpillar would turn into a beautiful butterfly which everyone admires and longs to touch. So the first thing in developing eyesight that sees beyond is to know that your physical eyesight is limited. Physical eyesight will only give you the picture of things as they appear to be at the moment. But they cannot grasp the hidden potential a situation, thing or person may possess. Physical eyes tend to overlook such things and many times we react on the half truth that our physical eyes tell us. For example let’s say on a particular day, you see a person who seems to be gloomy and doesn’t interact with anyone. You form a conclusion that he is very rude and egoistic. The truth maybe that day he has faced some untoward incident in his life. His wife maybe sick or he may be facing some problems regarding his children. He may be in meditative mood that day brooding over how to overcome the situation he is facing. So he appears to be aloof. On other days, he may be very outgoing and jovial person who loves to make new friends and enjoys company. So are your eyes at the given moment telling you the whole truth? Of course not! I remember a story from my English text in school days. There was a woman who moved into a certain neighborhood. She seemed to be a divorcee with two children. Most of the part of the day, the children used to be away from home. She used to send them out early morning. She used to be alone at home and had two male visitors regularly visiting her. The neighborhood was quick to judge her as a woman of suspicious character on the basis of what they saw. But the same neighborhood was ashamed when they came to know the truth. The woman’s husband had died a few years ago. She was suffering from a chronic disease. She didn’t wanted her children to see her suffering so she sent them away whole day. The men who visited her were her family doctor and lawyer. This story teaches us that not all that we see with our physical eyes is the whole truth. The physical eyes are limited to see only the three-dimensional space. They cannot see beyond, so don’t interpret events on the basis of what you see immediately, Always think what it could mean from other angle too.
Developing the Mental eyesight: You may be unconsciously aware of the fact that we also have what is known as mental eyesight. Just as you see pictures within the limits of three-dimensional space with your physical eyesight, you can also see pictures within you mind. Rather, most of the time we are busy forming pictures of what was or what could be in our mental eyesight. For example, the day your boss comes with a serious face and doesn’t greet you. Your mind starts busy picturing what could be the reason that he is somber. You picture in your mind the last day’s events; did you or someone in your office do something that offended your boss? Your mind also runs wild now and pictures the consequences of what could happen in the future. You see yourself in the office with the boss and you picture your boss shouting at you. You picture the day when you are given a memo and also the day when you are fired. You picture that your family is in trouble because you’ve lost the job. It’s time to put harness on the wild gallops of your mind and take control of it or it could lead you into depression. By now you must have been getting consciously aware of fact that we all have what is known as mental eyesight through which we form mental pictures in our minds. It is this faculty that we can use to our benefit when we want to develop the vision of beyond. How do we do this? Whenever you see an untoward incident or situation with your physical eyes, don’t immediately come to the conclusion that all is lost. Take the aid of your mental eyesight to see through the different options that could be possible. Remember this great truth, your physical eyesight is limited to the three dimensional space but your mental eyesight is not. It can cross the limits of three dimensions and reach unprecedented places. So when you encounter a negative situation, fall back on the resources of your mental eyesight. In your mind form a favorable picture of the negative situation. Your boss may look gloomy today but form the picture that it is nothing to do with you and he is very happy with you and though today he is not in mood because of some domestic problem, he is soon going to shower praises on you for your commitment and hard work. When you fail at something, don’t form the picture of a failure or loser in your mental eyesight rather form the picture that the failure is just an interval in your project and it is helping you to see what should be done, which way to be taken. Form a mental picture that you have reached your goals; you have accomplished what you always wanted. You faced failures but they were just detours in the course of your journey. You may be facing a storm in the ocean, look beyond that storm with the aid of your mental eyesight that you have reached the shores, the promised lands. Look in your mind that this storm that you are encountering is there not to dissuade you from your goal but rather push you toward your goal; it is making you stronger, richer and wiser. When you do this you’ll surely be on your way to develop the vision of beyond. That’s the meaning of walking by faith and not by eyesight. Here’s some wisdom, I’m not moved by what I see; I’m moved by what I want to see. Always allow that accomplished picture, that consummated dream to move you. Hold that picture firm in your mind, so firm that it moves you to action.

Don’t be Reactive, be Proactive: This is the final thing we ought to implement in our journey to develop the blessed vision of beyond. In the first two points, I have made it clear to you that whatever we see with our physical eyesight is not enough, it may not be offering you the whole truth. In the second point, we saw how we should develop the faculty of forming the favorable picture with the aid of our mental eyesight. Now the third and final thing we should remember is that we should not react immediately and let our minds run wild and then take some action based on ephemeral emotions. Rather than being reactive, be proactive. Proactive is opposite of Reactive. Reaction comes immediately on the basis of the stimulus. You respond to a stimulus that is reaction. But being proactive means, you choose your responses. It is here that the second point comes into picture, first use the faculty of your mental eyesight to form a favorable picture about the untoward situation you are facing and then choose your actions on the basis of that favorable picture. Sometimes you may have to develop the art of patience. You may have to take time to analyze the situation from all angles and then forming the favorable picture choose your action. Remember the wisdom of Victor Frankl, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” If we forget this and become reactive to the stimulus provided to us by our five senses, we are no better off than animals. God has made human beings different from animals in this regard that we can choose our responses to what happens to us. The power of choice is the greatest power bestowed on human beings by God. So be patient, analyze, use your mental eyesight and then act.

Conclusion: Let’s end with some famous words from the great Lincoln Memorial speech of Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream that one day on the red hill of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that one day my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!” It is because of the vision of beyond that people like Martin Luther King Jr. developed we see a free and fair nation of America today. So next time you seeing a wall, remember that there is a world beyond the wall, if only you could stretch out to reach it with the Vision of Beyond.

Joy be all yours
Sohan.

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