Point of View
It seems these days everyone has a point of view that differs from every one else’s point of view, and no two people can agree on anything!
The politicians seem to have the loudest voices, and while truth (or even calm, intelligent discussion) is avoided because, in some cases, the not-so-hidden agendas of getting re-elected takes precedence; the noise continues.
This poem was first published in 2020 in my book, HORIZONS. It attempts to throw a little water on the fires that burn so intently when someone stands red-faced trying to get his or her point of view across to someone else.
As the poem states, all experience is process. Over time, everything evolves into something else, even points of view. So, calm down!
Love is always the answer. Get along with each other! The future of the world depends on it.
POINT OF VIEW
Sometimes it is hard to shed your own point of view,
To let others’ opinions and points of view enter.
Everyone takes the limits of his own field of vision
For the limits of the world. We are our own center.
But the most fatal illusion is the settled point of view,
Because life is growth and motion.
Stopped by a fixed point of view, the person’s growth “dies.”
(This is stated without emotion.)
“If there’s any one secret of success,” says Henry Ford,
“It lies in the ability to be objective…”
And see from the other person’s point of view,
As well as your own. It is perspective.
A point of view can be a dangerous luxury
When substituted for insight and understanding.
You really never understand another person
Until you can see things from where he is standing.
We cling to our own point of view as if
Everything depended on our being “right.”
Our opinions have no permanence; they gradually pass away —
Like autumn and winter, like darkness and daylight.
A simple rule in dealing with a difficult person
Is to remember (before it all goes askew):
This person is striving to assert his superiority.
You must deal with him from that point of view.
Always respect another’s opinion and point of view,
Even if shared with aggressiveness.
No point of view can ever be the last one,
Owing to the fact that all experience is process.
