My below writings are not specific to any person ... these are just a point of view to life :)
The thought I am addressing is not new, nor revolutionary in any way. It is simple and a matter of common sense, but in the humdrum of "life", many a times unfortunately, "common sense" is not so "common"!
I find a lot of times people have a preconceived notion of another person eg: When a "fan" meets an actor and if the actor comes across as extremely humble, down to earth and without any pretensions, the "fan" is pleasantly surprised. That shows that the "fan" originally presumed the actor may be proud, high handed etc etc ... The preconceived notion may even be justified in that particular "fan's" case, based on his past experiences with other such actors etc. Such an example can be extended to any other interaction, such as teacher student relationships, parent child, employer employee etc etc . I gave the example mentioning actor as that is my profession.
When we are at the receiving end of these preconceived notions, and if they are negative, we become extremely upset as we feel we have been misunderstood or misrepresented. This is of course very natural. In this entire process, we may react and upset things further. I believe we should, at such times introspect, cross check the reasoning behind such preconceived notions and if they are valid, address them accordingly by correcting the wrongs that we may have done. If we feel these preconceived notions are baseless, then ignore them as they in the long run, will be proven to be baseless. Yes, it takes a lot of patience, but eventually the truth does prevail.
Sometimes, we may be at the receiving end of preconceived notions about us which are positive ... Aah!!! This is even more dangerous than the negative ones ... Why??? Because we may start believing in them and start behaving accordingly. We may not in reality be as positive as these preconceived notions make us out to be and then start to believe that we are always correct based on these positive preconceived notions others have of us. This then, is for sure a sign of impending sorrow, for as I said earlier, if the preconceived notions (negative or positive) are baseless, they will fade away and truth shall prevail.
In all of the above, I have been addressing the issue with a view that we are at the receiving end of preconceived notions, however, it is equally important to realize that we may also be having preconceived notions about another person ... After all, we are just as human and prone to err as any other person :) ...
To sum up ... I try and view each individual situation and person with an independent view which is untainted by my own preconceived notions of others and hopefully others will also view us in the same way.
The point I am trying to make is that we all face preconceived notions from others ... Of late, this is even more so with the penetrative spread of communication vide the internet and television and these preconceived notions spread far and wide immediately. More so about people "in the news" by virtue of the fact that they are in the news! Interestingly, they are sometimes in the news on account of these preconceived notions rather than any worthwhile information through that bit of news!!!
On an end note ... in all of the above ramblings ... I am trying to say:
Accept people for what they are and how they are with you. Learn from your experiences, let these experiences be your education, not your limitation :) ... Take care & God Bless.
My below writings are not specific to any person ... these are just a point of view to life :)
The thought I am addressing is not new, nor revolutionary in any way. It is simple and a matter of common sense, but in the humdrum of "life", many a times unfortunately, "common sense" is not so "common"!
I find a lot of times people have a preconceived notion of another person eg: When a "fan" meets an actor and if the actor comes across as extremely humble, down to earth and without any pretensions, the "fan" is pleasantly surprised. That shows that the "fan" originally presumed the actor may be proud, high handed etc etc ... The preconceived notion may even be justified in that particular "fan's" case, based on his past experiences with other such actors etc. Such an example can be extended to any other interaction, such as teacher student relationships, parent child, employer employee etc etc . I gave the example mentioning actor as that is my profession.
When we are at the receiving end of these preconceived notions, and if they are negative, we become extremely upset as we feel we have been misunderstood or misrepresented. This is of course very natural. In this entire process, we may react and upset things further. I believe we should, at such times introspect, cross check the reasoning behind such preconceived notions and if they are valid, address them accordingly by correcting the wrongs that we may have done. If we feel these preconceived notions are baseless, then ignore them as they in the long run, will be proven to be baseless. Yes, it takes a lot of patience, but eventually the truth does prevail.
Sometimes, we may be at the receiving end of preconceived notions about us which are positive ... Aah!!! This is even more dangerous than the negative ones ... Why??? Because we may start believing in them and start behaving accordingly. We may not in reality be as positive as these preconceived notions make us out to be and then start to believe that we are always correct based on these positive preconceived notions others have of us. This then, is for sure a sign of impending sorrow, for as I said earlier, if the preconceived notions (negative or positive) are baseless, they will fade away and truth shall prevail.
In all of the above, I have been addressing the issue with a view that we are at the receiving end of preconceived notions, however, it is equally important to realize that we may also be having preconceived notions about another person ... After all, we are just as human and prone to err as any other person :) ...
To sum up ... I try and view each individual situation and person with an independent view which is untainted by my own preconceived notions of others and hopefully others will also view us in the same way.
The point I am trying to make is that we all face preconceived notions from others ... Of late, this is even more so with the penetrative spread of communication vide the internet and television and these preconceived notions spread far and wide immediately. More so about people "in the news" by virtue of the fact that they are in the news! Interestingly, they are sometimes in the news on account of these preconceived notions rather than any worthwhile information through that bit of news!!!
On an end note ... in all of the above ramblings ... I am trying to say:
Accept people for what they are and how they are with you. Learn from your experiences, let these experiences be your education, not your limitation :) ... Take care & God Bless.
