The window in my room
It has been three to four weeks since I moved into my room in my guesthouse. The room happened to be on the fifth floor. I often look out and the view is pleasant to the eyes. But more than the mere pleasantness, being on the fifth floor gives me a different look. I could see the top of the trees and the birds and the different paths, almost a bird’s eye view.
The view set me thinking. Where we are in life influences what we see, why we see and how we see. As we grow in life we seem to grow ‘new eyes’ if I may say so. How we see depends on how much we have grown in our lives. It would be sad if the way we see is the same as it was in the past.
Why is this kind of ‘seeing’ detrimental? I would like to suggest that it has a way of governing our attitudes, our talk and our walk. They are not benign but have a way of taking hold of us and leading our lives. We must be careful and examine diligently what we AFFIRM or NEGLECT when we seek to learn or be entertained through seeing, reading or listening. They have a way of shaping us.
As I looked out from the window, I could see the top of the trees and the ways through which I could navigate through them. This view is not available from the ground. I think it is true in life, as we grow in our leadership we seem to ‘see’ differently. We ask different kind of questions. We also diagnose differently. We ‘see’ the path to where we ought to be differently. And most certainly the ‘ought to’ place that we intend to reach itself seems different from a higher ground. Being on the ground can give you an important view but a different one. If we haven’t been to the top we might not know where we are going, how to get there and what the obstacles on the way are. A good leader ‘sees’ both view, without it I wonder if that person is the leader is the first place. A leader must have a vision and must know how to get there from where we are and what could be the obstacles on the way.
What could we do to see differently? May be we could live on a higher floor.
We would like to believe that may be it is Learning. It may be true. Recently I have been wondering if in our times in could possibly be knowing how to be a lifelong learner and also being one.