While we might take great pride in our intellect as a species, I feel we at times give ourselves more credit than we deserve. I have grown up watching in quiet amusement as communities in my local church and the places I have worked end up pairing with different people at different times solely from within their immediate circles, a bit akin to the frenzy with which chairs are grabbed at a child’s birthday party, in an obligatory round of musical chairs.
See, the problem isn’t with the pairing, or even the inevitable un-pairing and re-pairing, but rather the outlook towards life itself. While a game of musical chairs might have a fixed number of ‘chairs’ that are up for grabs, it isn’t really the case in real life is it?
Unfortunately however, a majority of people fall prey to what I call the ‘fish bowl’ syndrome; I.e. the misconception that what we can have is limited to our immediate environment. This often results in people saying “till death do us part” (often with fingers crossed) thinking they would never meet anyone more suitable and maybe even secretly hoping they never would in the future!
I beg to differ however, I say, one needs to be brave enough to jump into other ‘fish bowls’ outside his or her own. We need to create our own reality, not merely conform to it.
Now all I need to do is practice ‘jumping’….
