Hello friends
I think most of us are familiar with the phrase " it is just a tip of an Iceberg". This phrase was coined because when Icebergs break away from glacier or ice field it floats to the sea, the largest part of the ice is always hidden beneath the water surface, on the surface remains just a tip. They actually say about only one ninth of it remains above the surface.
This phrase is always used to mean that, a tip is just a hint, a revelation or a first signal of a much lager, complex or a difficult which is much larger. It means the most important aspects of issues and people are hidden from our view.
Allow me to add another quotes this to spice it up, Anais Nin said, we don't see things as they are; we see them as we are. What sees then is not they eyes but the brain, the eye only captures the picture but the mind interprets the picture according to its preconditions.
I ready a book titled "Apples are Square" it is a leadership book by Susan Kuczmarski & Thomas Kuzczmarski. In this book the author retells a story of the guy by the names of Christopher Zorich. He played professional football with Chicago Bears and The Washington Redskins. Zorich said, " I came from a poor family, food was hard to get. But his mom could work hard and make sure her children had something to eat, more importantly she made sure the ate apples every evening. So she used to go to the supermarket and pick apples from the supermarket dust bins, which where thrown away by the super market because the had began to go bad. When she came home she cleaned them and cut away the rotten parts, but she did that not in the presence of the children. So children where always given clean and squared apples after removing the bad parts, children did not know those apples were picked from the dust bin and were cut to remove the rotten parts. So I always believed that was the natural shape of apples, until I was much older". This guy grew up with the mindset that apples are square, until a certain age.
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This is true to most of us, we grew up in a certain set up, we went through a certain experience, our families held certain values. All these things preconditioned our mindset with a certain biasness. We view and judge all things through this biasness. We are ready to die, to fight or hate for what we perceive to be a reality even if its not. Anais was right we don't see things as they are; we see them as we are.
When you put these two phrase together you will know how much hard it is to make a correct judgement of things from the first appearance or impression. People can be more than how they look, things can be more than how they appear and issues can be more than what they present. Yet life is about making decisions, choices, sometime giving your opinion and pass a judgement of which is which so that you can know where you stand.
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This is my advice to you do not stop at the first appearance of things or people, if you should then dig a little deeper to get to know them better, do not make quick promises, commitment, friendship or partnership with someone if you do not have enough knowledge about them, because people are like icebergs all you see is one ninth, the rest is beneath the surface. When you see that do not ignore or despise but pay attention investigate more, watch out.
Treat issues also in the same way not only people. Do not be fooled with the smallness or innocent in the appearance, you may end up dealing with symptoms and not the real issue that operates underneath. You may think it is a smoke of a dying fire and yet it is a volcano boiling underneath and its about to erupt. Many people you will hear them say I never saw it coming, nope its a lie, you saw but you ignored the signs. There can never be smoke without fire, when you see smoke there's fire. When you see a tip there's a big berg beneath that's ready and able to shatter your boat into pieces. Every time you deal with people or an issue remember the iceberg principle.
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Second be conscious of your own biasness. You may think all apples are square, but in reality they are not. Who we are affect how we see life, people, situations and issues. Sometimes you may think what you are looking at is a problem, but the reality is, you are the problem. You will work hard to solve an issue or a problem which does not exist. Sometimes its we who need the fixing.
I think its the late Steve Jobs who said when you are a hammer you think every problem is a nail. When you come to the realization that you could be biased on your interpretation of certain facts, it is the begin of wisdom. It is a cure to the eye of your mind.
Your trainings, culture, past experiences, personality, values, gender and even age may color all that you see, with certain types of colors. This affects how you respond, relate and resolve issues. Be open minded is important every time you are faced with a challenge.
Always remember the nature of things and people and your own personality affects your perception, actions and the judgement of issues, situation and people. Be warned about this and you will make a better person that people will consider wise and understanding. These are rear qualities.
Thank you for taking time to read this post
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