You have an extremely limited perspective of life.

I don’t tell you this to offend you.

I and everyone else also have a very limited perspective of life. However, rarely do we admit this to be true. We dig in our heels and cling to our views convinced that our perspectives are the only way to see life and are indeed correct.

Here’s a wonderful parable that is rumored to have been shared by the Buddha that illustrates just how limited our perspectives can be.

A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. Out of curiosity, they said: “We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable”. So, they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it. In the case of the first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said “This being is like a thick snake”. For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan. As for another person, whose hand was upon its leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the elephant, “is a wall”. Another who felt its tail, described it as a rope. The last felt its tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.

In some versions, the blind men then discover their disagreements, suspect the others to be not telling the truth and come to blows.

How many times have you disagreed with someone else’s perspective so strongly that you’ve almost come close to blows?

Hopefully, you realized that you’re just standing at different ends of the elephant.

It can be very difficult to see someone else’s perspective, let alone agree with it, but you can at least allow for it. If all you do is dispute then you’re not really any better off than the blind men.

It can be challenging to make room for someone else’s perspective and point of view because you feel threatened. You feel as though it undermines your perspective, but it doesn’t. In fact, it broadens your perspective and gives you a wider view of life.

So the next time you find yourself on opposite ends of the elephant with someone, instead of disagreeing, ask them to describe what they’re feeling and seeing, and see what you can learn from their perspective.

Just imagine what the world could look like if we were all just a little more open to other people’s perspectives.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.