Each time I see hanging glasses, I find myself reliving my first experience and the life whispers that followed. Then and now, I find it helpful to consider things differently than I did in the past. I grew up with my mother placing all glasses right side up. Since she always did this, I simply accepted this as the way things should be done. I cannot remember her ever saying anything about it. The lesson was even more powerful because of the lack of any discussion.
The first time I saw glasses hanging in a restaurant I paused. The fact that my automatic thinking did not allow for this possibility triggered a reflection and question. Do I accept my initial impression as factual truth? Life continues to use sighting of hanging glasses to teach me at the moment.
Initial impressions are not always true. What appears good may not work out that way. What seems disastrous may become your preferred choice. This is not to suggest that every event will fit perfectly in one’s life. On the contrary, there is a simple reality that news and predictions need time to reveal themselves. An old example was when “God told Rebecca, ‘The firstborn of your twins will take second place.’” (Romans 9.12). Hearing this for the first time is very different than hearing it from the perspective of history.
Impressions may call for an immediate response. Life likes to remind me that my response is best shaped by reflection and consideration leading to intentional action. Even in tragedy, there is an opportunity to be more holistic than I initially assumed.
There are many uses for what one sees. I enjoy the reminder lesson that starts with something upside-down. As I turn it, seeing it from new perspectives, there are opportunities that I did not initially see. My awareness of the truth with a simple glass has changed my response to the unknowns in each moment. The uncertainty and fear that came can be replaced by curiosity and openness. Today begins with multiple unknowns. Each is an opportunity.
