When things are not as they seem to be

This planet is stunningly beautiful. What is making it so blue? Being a planet, anything is possible.

Phaedrus in who lived in 15 BC-50 AD said: “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.”

Curious as to the beauty of the planet, I knew that I must learn more from the “intelligence of the few.” This is what I found on the space.com website. The name of this blue marble is planet HD 189733b. It is only 63 light-years from earth. Scientists said its daytime temperatures to soar as high as 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius). Its blue colour in the atmosphere could be the result of its rain of molten glass. Ouch!

I next thought is the Sufi story I heard a long time ago. You will find this story when you Google it. “One day a farmer finds and captures a beautiful white stallion.  All the neighbours gather to congratulate him: “How fortunate you are.”  The next day his son attempts to ride the horse, falls off, and breaks his leg.  All the neighbours gather to commiserate with the farmer: “What a shame.”  You must be displeased.”  The next day the soldiers come to take every able-bodied man into the army.  Because the son has a broken leg, the soldiers leave him alone.  The neighbours gather to congratulate the farmer: “How fortunate you are.”  You are blessed.”

Words and facts are just that. We colour it the way our programming demands. It is us who add the emotional value. This post is going well with my post “Before the Big Bang.” In this last week, comments were made about me that were simply not true. I did not become angry or even upset. When I realised the personal circumstances of the other person, I understood a bit of their emotional turmoil and the reasons behind their actions.

In a specific moment in time, the same thing that is looking beautiful can also be an “ouch.” That, in turn, reminded me of the insightful book that I read several years ago. The book is Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. The story is about a wave in the Ocean.

"I heard a nice little story the other day," Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait. "Okay. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. He's enjoying the wind and the fresh air-- until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore. "'My God, this is terrible,' the wave says, 'Look what's going to happen to me!" "Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave looking grim, and it says to him, 'Why do you look so sad?' "The first wave says, 'You don't understand! We're all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn't it terrible?' "'The second wave says, 'No, you don't understand. You're not a wave, you're part of the ocean.'

Lesson? See the big picture. We are part of life on this beautiful Earth. At times life can be “ouch.” Withholding judgment is so important. First appearances are what the little wave responded to in Morrie’s story. It is ONLY first appearances and … mostly it is our own emotional record that is playing. After that … we need to find the correct facts before we react. I often remind myself of this fact. We are absolutely biased in our thinking. Training myself to overcome this bias is an ongoing task ….

We can’t control much, especially not how people react to us. Fact-finding is important. Only with all the facts in the open can we get a realistic perspective. In my opinion when it is not possible to “sort things out,” remember our own imperfections and move on. We also in turn rain glass and create an ouch. When this happens, we want others to look past the glass and see the beauty beneath.