There are many points of view

The Moment I Realised There Are Many Points of View

There was a moment… though I couldn’t tell you exactly when…when something inside me shifted forever. 

I had this huge, almost electrifying realisation that stopped me in my tracks…it was that there isn’t just one way to see or understand things.

There are many different points of view, and each one is shaped by the unique journey of the person holding it.

Up until that point, I think I’d unconsciously believed that there was a “right” way or a couple of right ways and a “wrong” way to see situations, experiences and the world. 

But that day, it was as if the blinkers were suddenly taken off...I could see more, I could see wider and it was as if I could see things lighter and brighter….it was a wow moment - some may call it a lightbulb moment but if felt bigger than that, more expansive. 

From that moment on, I began to notice how each person I met, every conversation I had, and even every disagreement I witnessed was influenced and coloured by the individual’s own experiences, conditioning, upbringing, and belief systems.

We’re all shaped by the society we grow up in, the culture, the expectations, the education, the family stories, and even the silent rules we learn about how to behave or what to believe. 

From birth, we’re programmed in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. These layers of conditioning become the lens through which we view life. And that lens affects everything, from how we interpret an event, how we respond to a situation or an event to how we perceive others, to how we define what’s “true” for us.

When I truly understood this, and as it really began to sink in, something lifted in me. I became more aware, more open, more compassionate. I stopped feeling the need to share or prove that my view was also valid because everybody’s point of view is valid based on the lens they are looking through - the lens of their life experiences, upbringing and programming… I could see that others were also speaking from their truth...a truth that made sense through their lens of experience.

That realisation changed the way I listened. It changed the way I communicated. And most importantly, it changed the way I connected with people.  I began to ask, “I wonder what has shaped this person’s point of view?”

It doesn’t mean I agree with every opinion I hear. But it does mean I can hold space for more than one truth to exist.

And maybe that’s what peace really is...when we stop insisting that everyone see the world as we do and begin to honour the beautiful diversity of the human experience.

Each point of view just is...a reflection of someone’s story, their conditioning, their lessons, and their reality.. When we realise that, judgment fades and compassion grows.

It’s one of those quiet but profound shifts that changes everything.