“Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.”

— Merry Browne

Every day I get up and put on my tinted lenses.

Mind you, they’re not real lenses, but they affect my vision as much as any pair of prescription lenses. They’re the lenses I wear through which I judge the world.

photo credit: Darwin Bell via photopin cc

I see the world through the filter of my experiences, my habits, my problems, my schedule, my anxieties, my stress, my family, my friends, my lifestyle, my job, my class status, my skin color, my hair color, my house, my yard, my town, my expectations, my biological make-up, my self image, my health, my family’s health, and on and on and on and on.

We all wear lenses like these. The ones that tempt us to say, “If everyone just saw things as I do, then all would be well.”

And while it may not be possible to completely remove the tinted lenses, at least recognizing they are there, is a good first step to seeing things a little more clearly.

Today’s gift of time … Wrote an article for a friend’s weekly newsletter.