A fingertip can block the sun...

Was driving my bike to the office today morning. I always wear full face helmet while driving and very often close the visor (glass) to avoid dust getting into my eyes. Mine is an old helmet and the visor has quite a few scratches but I’ve gotten so used to it that I don’t notice the scratches anymore when I drive with the visor on.

Its funny that I am able to see through the scratches and look at the long road ahead. On one of the very initial days of my bike riding, this very scratch had caused an accident when I was busy looking at the scratch on the glass while driving. I missed the red light and ended up with the bike on top of me.

But today, with enough training (or habit), I can ignore the scratch and drive comfortably.

Even more interesting was the fact that I can shift focus of my eyes such that when I want to see the road, I’m able to see it and when I want to see the scratches, I’m able to shift my focus and see them too.

This scratch, at one time, had the ability to block my entire range of vision.

I was sitting with a very close friend a few weeks back and we had met after a long time. We spent a long time recalling the good old school days, how we had fun, spoke about a lot of old friends and so on. Somewhere in the conversation, my friend said something which was not ok, although he said it very casually but it was something not ok. Right now, as I sit and try to recall, more than any of the topics we spoke about, this casual remark is what I can remember.

This one remark has the ability to spoil the memories of my entire day. It is now my choice whether I want to hold on to it or relish the memories of the rest of the day.

I remember when I used to take interviews, I had rejected a good candidate just because his shoe was not polished while he was very well dressed otherwise.

Lets say you are looking at the sunrise. Just hold your finger tip very close to your eye so that the finger tip is blocking the sun from your view. Hold you finger so close that it is just half a centimeter away from your eye.

(Ok, if it is nighttime right now, then just look at the moon and do the same exercise.)

What is important is that a finger, which can’t even be measured on the same scale as the sun, can cover the sun and hide it from your line of sight.

Same is the case with all of us in various aspects of our lives, one thing which is not okay has the ability to block our entire vision. One discussion can spoil the relationship, one weak subject can spoil the exams, one small mistake can spoil the impression built over years.

We hold the problem so close that it starts blocking our ability to see including our ability to see solutions.

“Ok Gulshan, you’ve made your point, now how do we solve it?”

Going back to the sun example which we saw above, remember that you were holding the finger half a centimeter away from your eye. Now start moving the finger away from your eye, you will see that the finger starts appearing smaller and smaller and you can see more things at the same time.

Moving the finger away from the eye… does that mean running away from the problem?

No.

It just means that we emotionally detach ourselves from the problem so we can see the solution more clearly.

Yes, we definitely need to get away from the problem but not by running away. We either solve the problem, if we can’t solve it then find someone with a higher intelligence who can help us to solve it, or if it is something so small that it won’t have any impact on my life, then as well ignore it and be happier.

Think about it… Just a fingertip can block the sun.