We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.
A story that circulated in my family growing up was about a couple of mischievous boys who wanted to play a joke on their grandpa. While he napped, they rubbed some Limburger cheese in his mustache.
When grandpa awoke, he sniffed and said, “It stinks in here!”
He walked into the kitchen, sniffed around and declared: “It stinks in here too!”
Leaving the kitchen, he walked through the hallway to his front door. Sure enough, as he sniffed, he muttered, “It even stinks in here!”
Flinging the front door open, he took a breath of what he expected to be fresh air. But once again the Limburger cheese filled his nostrils, and grandpa shouted in disgust: “The whole world stinks!”
Did the whole world stink? Of course not. The real problem was right under grandpa’s nose.
Before we complain about our boss or our spouse or the government or poor service, be sure to look first in the mirror and find out what’s under our nose.
We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.
