perception and circle of influence

I'm going to share a couple stories that will bring some attention on two things today: perception and circle of influence

First, I want you to close your eyes, take a deep breath and picture this in your mind:

Shirley is on her knees weeding or tending a garden bed in one corner of the garden. Shirley's view is the intricate detail of the plants, birds, bees, and sounds around her such as the wind passing through the plants surrounding her, the texture of the grass as it digs into her knees, the faint scents drifting across the gardens, the dust from cars driving a bit to fast on the road.  This is what Shirley is currently aware of, but she finds herself a bit distracted because of the harsh words she said to her husband that morning. Janice, her neighbor, is on the 2nd story balcony - she has a totally different view of Shirley's yard - in fact she can see almost the entire yard from above the canopy level. She sees the tops of the garden beds, the sunlight stream through trees - refracting and giving a glow to the scene below. Janice's husband, however, is getting ready for work and so she can only take a quick glance at the entrancing view before she rushes to help. Brian across the street is lounging in his chair absorbing everything in his view - it is his day off and he's totally relaxed with nothing to do; his view, however, is blocked by fences and the thick tree trunks.

Shirley's perception, then, is totally different than Janice's, and both girls are seeing things in a different way than Brian is - not better, just different. They are looking at the same scene, but they are seeing and experiencing it in completely different ways.

That story helps us understand the value of perception. Our little window view is tainted by our mental state at the time, which then affects our level of awareness that we had at that moment. ... So really, our view is just a tiny piece of the whole picture. 

Now I want you to keep this idea about perception in mind while I tell you the second half... about the circle of influence. 

How many of you feel sometimes that any effort you make is so small, so tiny it couldn't possibly have a positive effect and if it does have an effect it is so small, barely perceptible and certainly couldn't last very long? I think we've all felt that way before. 

But this is our perception. 

Let me tell you about this elderly lady (lets call her Mable) - a neighbor of mine... I walked by her yard frequently often seeing her work the potatoes and masses of flowers and once in a while we would chat a little bit. She didn't want a yard, which is too hard to maintain in her aging state, and she loved flowers. So she converted her entire yard over to flowers, and a potato patch. Mable's gift to the world was to take cut flowers to the hospital, the old age home, senior's center and every Sunday to church. She did sell some bouquets too, from her yard, but this was casual, not a business. 

I thought that was pretty cool and that casual acquaintance became one of the thousands of moments that helped me evolve into the person I am today.

This memory of Mable came up during a recent discussion on a podcast, and the host was so impacted by this story that she included it on page 72 of her book: Compassion With Purpose.

So going back to the thing about perception... That one elderly lady, Mable wandering around her yard casually chatting with people that pass by - she had no idea that her casual conversations with a young neighbor would have such an effect on the girl. 

Mable had no idea that the girl would refer to the memory in numerous conversations over the years, and then in a podcast interview - reaching who knows how may listeners. 

Mable would have been amazed to hear that her story was shared in a book - reaching who knows how many readers. 

Mable didn't see all that. 

In fact Mable passed on probably decades before most of this happened. She had no idea that her simple actions in her own yard would eventually reach people across the globe, inspiring them by showing how easy it is to make a difference. These are just the ripples I saw from my experiences with Mable. There is no telling how many other ripples Maple caused in other people's lives as well.

I created a video for this on our Youtube channel as well: 

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