As a writer, I spend a lot of time in my head. My brain forms and rejects stories as I go about the more mundane tasks of my day. As ideas begin to take shape, I envision what words I am going to use, what points will take precedence, and how I will tie it all together. Sometimes, what I plan to share is finalized long before I sit down at my keyboard. 

I had intended for this to be a place to write about treasure hunting. I had appointed a concept and elected my words of choice. All I had to do was transfer the text from my head to my computer.

That idea has been vetoed … for the time being, anyway. It has been trumped by a more pressing issue. 

I am compelled to write about perspective. More pointedly, the importance of finding a view of your own while being able to appreciate the view others embrace, even if it is not one you would typically seek out.

Or, at the very least, being able to accept the fact that others may see things differently. 

You see, some folks may find only the vista from a lofty mountain top worthwhile.

Others tend to be appreciative of the valley. For them, surrounded by trees and landscape is the ideal setting.

Still, others tend to be somewhere in between. Depending on their mood, they can be captivated by the forest floor, a mountain peak or anywhere in between. 

I’ve spent significant time on trails and I can’t say I’ve ever run into another person who insisted their outlook or activity was more worthy than mine. 

We may swap visions of where we have been, what we’ve seen and our preferred way of getting there. There are usually robust suggestions about favored destinations.  The ideas we share might come with a passionate urging for others to see and do things as we do.

But, it ends there. 

I can’t recall being on the receiving end of any negativity because I didn’t share the same outlook of another. And, I’ve certainly never had anyone berate me because I had not seen, or cared to see, their perspective. 

Each one of us sees the world a little differently than everyone else. There is no objective truth that unifies us as a whole. Contrasting perspectives can be perfectly okay. In fact, differences are what make life interesting. 

As we journey along our individual paths, we’ll run across folks who take in a different view. Please, treat them with kindness and respect. When we reach the end of the trail, that is what’s going to matter.

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