By Tanya Bunich
I don't know why, but I have found that most people are conditioned to think that the grass is greener on the other side. I admit, I too, am guilty. It doesn’t matter so much the topic, house, kids, marriage or work. Pick any aspect in your life that you may be experiencing some discomfort in and I am sure there is someone’s life; you think you would rather have.
This past summer, I was at an investment seminar and the speaker, Mark Zinder went around the room and asked a few people, "Hey, how are you?" the response from each person was the same, "great." Mark went on to say , gosh…I must be the only one here, who has problems, everyone is great and I have this and that going on in my life. Everyone broke out in laughter.
His point…. Just because someone tells you they are doing great, doesn't mean they are, we are conditioned to respond that way. In reality, everyone has something that's not so great, but they don't wear it on their sleeve.
Years ago, I was at a luncheon on a Saturday, at this couples house. There were about 5 couples. When I left, I kept saying to myself, WOW!!! They have an amazing, marriage. They appeared so in love, so in sync, it was honey this and sweetie that. I left sooo jealous of their relationship.
That following Monday, a mutual friend called to tell us they separated and were getting divorced. I was blown away!!
From that day on, I have seen time and time again, that you never know what goes on behind closed doors. It may be a marriage that appears to be perfect, or someone’s child that appears to behave so much better than your’s, and the key word it "APPEARS". I have come to refer to this as an optical illusion. Objects are not what they appear to be.
Now, each time I see perfection, I quickly remind myself that it’s an optical illusion.
I recently heard of a study that was done. A group of people gathered around a table and they had to write down on a piece of paper their problems with their relationships. Then, the papers were mixed up and handed out, so each person ended up with the problems of another, in the group. They were asked if they wanted to trade their problems for the ones they picked up. Each and every person in the group chose their problems back.
This confirmed my theory, that we all have our challenges, but, remember that the grass only "APPEARS" greener.
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