Two Views from the Bridge

Where I live we have two 'floating bridges' that go across a large body of water. The bridges literally sit right on top of the water. It's an interesting sensation to drive across these bridges and be so close to water level.

Sometimes when I drive across these bridges a strange phenomenon occurs. This happened to me the other day.

As I was driving across the lake, the water to the left of me was extremely choppy. In fact there were fairly large waves with white caps. At times water was splashing onto the bridge deck. The water looked stormy and scary.

To the right of the bridge the water was calm and glass like. No disturbances on the water's surface in any way. It looked like a completely different lake.

The water was the same. In fact the water was mingling below me as I drove across the bridge.

To look one way the water looked dangerous and frightening. It was disturbed and unpredictable.

When looking the other way everything looked serene and quiet. The water was comforting and beautiful.

Same lake. Same water. Different view.

It got me to thinking about how our vantage point and perspective make such a difference in the world we not only see, but encounter.

If I was in a boat on the stormy side of the bridge, it would be easy to believe that that is all that existed at that moment. Who would dream that 20 feet away the water was calm and inviting?

When we are tempted to believe we KNOW the truth of a situation, or that the scenario in front of us is 'all that is' it would do us well to remember this encounter on the bridge.

Conditions can be radically different in we but shift our perspective or our vantage point. Sometimes our own lens of perception becomes clouded and we no longer can see clearly or accurately. Cleaning the lens through which we view the world is often the change that is needed most!