Everything is Black and White
Susan notes: This is an anonymous story from someone’s school days. Having found myself to be in exactly the same situation many times, I have cause to reflect on the lesson often. Hopefully I will one day fully integrate it into my life and not have to reminded again and again...
When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with another girl in my class. I forgot long ago what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.
Using a very simple demonstration, our clever teacher quickly taught us that both of us were both right and wrong...
The teacher brought us both to the front of the class and asked us to stand on either side of her desk. In the middle of it, she placed a large round object. I could clearly see the object was black. She asked the other little girl what colour the object was. “White,” she answered. I couldn’t believe it! How could she say the object was white, when clearly it was black? Another argument ensued, this time about the colour of the object.
After a minute or two, the teacher told us to change places, then asked me what colour the object was. I had no choice but to answer “white.”
The object was black on one side and white on the other. From my classmate’s initial viewpoint, the object was white, while for me it was black. It was only when we changed places and saw the object from each other’s perspective that we could understand how we could see it so differently.
The moral of the story: Things that seem black and white might indeed be so, but not in the way we think! One must stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective.
After a minute or two, the teacher told us to change places, then asked me what colour the object was. I had no choice but to answer “white.”
The object was black on one side and white on the other. From my classmate’s initial viewpoint, the object was white, while for me it was black. It was only when we changed places and saw the object from each other’s perspective that we could understand how we could see it so differently.
The moral of the story: Things that seem black and white might indeed be so, but not in the way we think! One must stand in the other person’s shoes and look at the situation through their eyes in order to truly understand their perspective.