A DIFFERENT WINDOW: LOOKING THROUGH A DIFFERENT WINDOW

There is a saying that you never truly understand someone else until you walk a mile in their shoes It is also said that the eyes are the windows of the soul. If someone shares their view, their unique way of seeing things, you save a lot of walking around in shoes that probably don't fit very well. In this column, "Looking Through a Different Window," I hope to share with you my view on many topics. I also want to include the view others have expressed in their books, articles and letters. I invite you to share your views with me.

I want to know what you think and feel. Your thoughts will affect my view. My thoughts will affect what you see. As we share our thoughts with each other we can draw a little closer to unity with each other and all of humanity.

Everyone sees the world in different ways depending on who they are and where they stand

One day as I stood looking at the view my son asked me what I was looking at. I told him I was just enjoying the view. "Why?" he asked. "It's always the same."

All he could see was a monotonous, unchanging scene. I saw the way the sun made a pattern of light and dark on the grass. The pattern changed from one moment to the next. I saw a butterfly enter the scene then disappear from my sight. I saw an ever-changing complex picture.

There are always other options and opinions. Some say we can see a glass as half full or half empty depending on how we view it. They are limiting our choices. Maybe the glass is too big or we need more water, either way we can fix it and end with a full glass. The world offers too many choices to allow someone to tell us we have only a few to choose from.

We are all participants in an age of changed. Our world and our society are changing and transforming. Our views are sometimes cloudy, blurred by the rapidity of the changes. Many of us don't have a clear idea of what we do believe, many people are waiting for someone to tell them what to believe. We need each other more than ever before and yet we feel as if we are alone. We need each other to help clarify, to help to sort out, and help us to understand everything that is being presented to us so rapidly.

We watch the seasons change as we look through a window. According to the Chinese, we all pass through seasons that mimic the seasons of nature. As we approach the year 2000 we are passing through a season We stand between two seasons both as individuals as well as a planet.

We are in the Solstice or Indian Summer Season As the Chinese call it. This is a time of transition, the midpoint between two seasons The past and the future are both a part of the present. We are passing from one season to the next. This has been called the "Information Age." Never before has it been possible for 60 many people to exchange information so quickly. We have the opportunity to evaluate and explore other views, other beliefs, other cultures. We have the opportunity to blend what we believe with what other" believe. We have the opportunity to draw together, to become a more unified person and a more unified world.

As we stand on the threshold it is time to evaluate. It's time to discard past mistakes but is important to carry what is good into the future. We can all participate in Indian Summer if we choose to. We can choose to consciously choose where we are going from here both individually and as a planet.

We can create an idea of how we want to be and begin to live that way. You may think it's hard to change the way you are, but if you are not what you really want to be, you are not being who you really are. You are not being who you were meant to be.

Does your view show you the world in bad shape with all the guns, violence, drugs and criminals? Is this how it was meant to be? If we can picture a different world we can build a different world. All changes begin with a thought. Think about this: how many people do you know who have been attacked by criminals? One, a few, everyone?

I have only known one person personally who was physically injured by a criminal. That person was only a casual acquaintance.

According to the JAMA, the number of student involved in fights at school is down, the number of injuries from school fights is down, and the number of school children caught carrying weapons is down.

If you think about it, I'm sure you will realize that most of the violence you hear about, you only hear about. It only touches your life through the media. If such happenings were really common, instead of exceptions to what most people experience, they wouldn't be on the news!

Let's look through the window at a different view. Let's view ourselves as we could be. Let's explore. As Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, "The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as happy as kings." Let's explore a number of things. Let's work on being as happy as kings. Let's focus on what works and discard what doesn't Let's consider what might work and try it. If one idea doesn't work we can try another.

We have often been told if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think if something works -- even if it works well, it just might be possible to improve it. On the other hand, if something is broke, if it doesn't work, we can throw it out.

Our world is so full of things that work well or have the possibility of working well that there is little reason to hand onto something that isn't working or is not being eaten up by things that don't work or don't work well. We are all frustrated when we are forced to sue things that don't do what they should. We are stressed when we are using tools that are being held together by duct tape and baling wire.

Our country is too rich and too intelligent to operate on outmoded, outdated systems that don't work or are patched together rot give the illusion of working.

Let's work on improving what works, instead of trying to fix what doesn't work. We can view the world through our windows with the intention of finding out what works,w hat is good. I invite you to let me see the view from your window and I wills hare the view through mine.

Let's explore, let's share. Let's get excited about the possibilities. The world is full of good ideas and good thoughts. Let's not hang onto inferior thoughts, ideas or systems. Let's find the good and hang onto that. Are you ready to begin? I am.