Paradigm Shift: Is it possible?

I was thinking about paradigm shift the other day. Being able to see things from another point of view can make such a difference in our attitude towards others in our life.

The following is an anecdote from the Reader's Digest. This is a classic example of a paradigm shift.

A friend of mine, returning to South Africa from a long stay in Europe, found herself with some time to spare at London's Heathrow Airport. Buying a cup of coffee and a small package of cookies, she staggered, laden with luggage, to an unoccupied table. She was reading the morning paper when she became aware of someone rustling at her table. From behind her paper, she was flabbergasted to see a neatly dressed young man helping himself to her cookies. She did not want to make a scene, so she leaned across and took a cookie herself. A minute or so passed. More rustling. He was helping himself to another cookie.

By the time they were down to the last cookie in the package, she was very angry but still could not bring herself to say anything. Then the young man broke the cookie in two, pushed half across to her, and ate the other half and left.

Some time later, when the public-address system called for her to present her ticket, she was still fuming. Imagine her embarrassment when she opened her handbag and was confronted by her package of cookie. She was eating his package of cookie this whole time.

Often our paradigm of others are incomplete, inaccurate or completely messed up. From our limited point of view, we seldom see the whole picture or have all the facts with us.

We should always open our minds and hearts to new information, ideas and point of views.

It is obvious that if we want to make big changes in our lives, the key is to change our paradigm or the glasses through which we see the world. Change the lens and everything else follows.

Gandhi once said 'Be the change you want to see in others'.