“The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as rich as kings.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

This world is certainly full of many things – so many that sometimes it takes a conscious effort not to be overwhelmed.

Most of the time, however, we handle all this information overload very efficiently. Our senses provide a filter and classification system that processes most of the input automatically.

We see a tree, and, without conscious thought, file it under “trees.” We know what it is. We have no immediate need for what it has to offer, it presents no immediate concern, so we reserve our conscious thought for something more pertinent.

And, we do this literally millions of times a day. We actually “see” very little of what’s around us.

Want proof? Well, here’s just one example of something we’ve all seen hundreds of times, yet many of us have never seen all that’s there. A FedEx logo.

What do you see? A logo for a shipping company. Nice and neat, recognizable, you instantly know what it represents. What else? Two colors, block letters…

Do you see the arrow? If you have “seen” it before, did you notice it yourself, or did someone show it to you the first time?

(If you’re still having trouble, look at the white space between the “E” and the “x”.)

Interesting, but what does this mean to us?

Most of us are actively looking for things we don’t yet possess, or answers we haven’t yet found.

What if they were right in front of us, and we just hadn’t noticed them yet?

This week we’re going to offer some suggestions on how to expand our awareness of what we already have, as the first step to finding what we’re looking for.

Take a few moments each day, suspend your judgment, and really look around you. You just might be surprised at what you see!

Just Imagine That!