“We feel things differently, view things differently and say things differently but we may all mean the same thing.” – Astrid Hardjana-Large

We are each a unique person with an individual perspective. We all view things, feel things and say things differently but it is also possible that we may be working towards the same thing. Have you ever watched three children working together to make something together?

Imagine three kids working together to build a rainbow colored building. The first child may concentrate on getting all the rainbow colors there. “Make sure to have red, blue, orange, purple, yellow and green. We have to have six different colors.” The second child may concentrate on placing blocks in perfect order for the building. “Make sure to place all the big blocks on the bottom. Let’s make sure the building will stand.” The third may agree with the plans until they realize that the colors are not in perfect order. “We can’t place those blocks there because that is where purple should be. Keep all the red blocks for the top. Remember, a rainbow always has red on the top, then orange, yellow, green, blue and purple on the bottom.” All three kids are working towards making a rainbow building but we may see them arguing because each individual has their own focus on how to create a rainbow colored building. They are each seeing the building, have a feeling for the building and voicing their focus for the building but despite all the commotion, all three children are working towards the same goal.

We will all have moments in our lives when we have a focus intended towards a goal and we are met with unexpected reactions from the people we thought we could work with. It would be easiest for us to assume that they are against us but, in the end, it may be because we are all working towards a common goal with different understanding and different focus to be the greatest assistance we can be.