My Father Was Pointing the Gun STRAIGHT AT ME.

But my mother’s screams distracted him, so I watched as he swung the shotgun toward my mother, pulled the trigger, then as he flipped the end of the gun toward himself and pulled the trigger again.

Suddenly I realized both of my parents were lying dead in front of me.

It was Father’s Day, and I was 14.”

A while back I listened to an incredible speaker tell this story.

I spoke with one of the attendees of the event I was at afterward, and to my surprise he was deeply upset the speaker had shared the story of the homicide-murder.

In fact, he believed the speaker:

1. “Put a burden” on the audience by telling them her story, and that…
2. As a speaker, she was wrong to “profit from tragedy”.

I was fascinated by his point of view.

Her speech occurred to this one attendee as something that was inherently wrong; in fact, he felt she should STOP telling the story, completely.

At the same time, to others, the presentation had been inspiring.

Uplifting.

A message of hope.

A message of possibility and of overcoming.

What a wild difference.

Here’s what you can take away from this attendee’s interpretation of the speaker’s tragic story:

The exact same events (and all other input) occur to us all in different ways because they get run through our personal mental lenses.

Our mental lenses are all unique — and impacted by our stress levels, past traumas, body/nervous system states, and beliefs.

The talk ran through this attendee’s mental filter and he perceived it as ….

JUST WRONG.

He then insisted she should stop talking about it — despite the healing and hope it brings to thousands of people every year and despite others in the room gaining tremendous benefit from it.

I encourage you to ask yourself THIS:

Where in your life might you be looking to shut down something that occurs as wrong to YOU—but may be exactly what other people need?

Where might you be able to invite a bit more flexibility into your life, and know what works for you may not work for others?

Shine light on places where there’s a lack of flexibility with your opinions. It will allow so much more growth, light, and love to flourish.