I Didn't See That...Or How Many Dogs?

Tomorrow night it will be colder here than in a long time. This is early to have a hard freeze here. We have five vehicles. I will check the antifreeze in them today. So my wife is leaving out early this morning and the wheels seldom stop turning on her van, in a minute, when the sun is up a little more and I can see, I will test the antifreeze in her van. I was a mechanic some thirty years ago and it is just easier to do some things yourself than to schedule it and then take the vehicle somewhere to be worked on. I can check all five vehicles before I could drive one to town.

I got to wondering, where is my antifreeze tester? Actually, I wonder that every year. You don't use it every day. It turns out it was where it is every year, in the top right drawer of my tool box. Why did I wonder where it was? Because I use that tool box every few weeks and I don't remember seeing it since last year. When I don't need it, my brain just filters it out.

My grandson and I were looking at one of those activity books a while back and it had this picture with all of these cats. Cats on the mailbox, cats on the porch, cats in the car window, cats and more cats. The caption at the top of the page read, "How Many Cats Do You See?" We counted and counted the cats. Then at the bottom of the page it said, "Turn The Page And Answer The Question." What was the question? "How Many Dogs Are In The Picture?" Heck if I know, I was counting the cats. Were there dogs in the picture? We turn back and sure enough, there were lots of dogs.

Ever buy a car you thought was a little rare, you just didn't see one every day and then when you bought it you found out everyone was driving a car like it? Your awareness for that car was turned on after it entered your sphere of interest. Before it just wasn't important.

The point here is we overlook a lot in life. Our brain and mind filter out a lot of information. Usually they do a pretty good job, but often they filter out things that are important and we miss opportunities.

A person coming to the United States from another country has four times the chance statistically of becoming a millionaire than someone born in the United States. Why? Because everything is new to them. They don't filter a lot of their world out as being old and unimportant.

How do you see things? You look for them like my grandson and I looked for the cats.

Look for opportunities and with a little practice you will get good at it.

My grandson and I see cats everywhere now.

best and be blest,
Scott Hogue CChH