I feel for those that are color blind, their world is literally black and white but definitely not by choice. I’m thankful to be able to see in colors, the world is such a beautiful place, but sadly, some of us are still mentally seeing things in black and white. I was once guilty of this myself, I had the tendency to see things in black and white, but I’ve gotten a lot better because seeing things in black and white only lead to many disappointments in life. Still, there are many people out there that are still seeing things in black and white, and if they ask you a question, they’d expect a yes or no type of answer, but in reality, it’s not like that. Seriously, look around you, the world is not in black and white, life is full of colors, and answer various according to our mood at the time, today my answer might be a yes, and tomorrow I might feel differently about the same issue.

Many times, when we’ve a problem, we’ve the tendency to see the problem in black and white, and it’s frustrating because we might not be able to resolve that problem with just a plain black and white answer. If I’ve a problem, I like to look at it from a different angle, from another person’s point of view, and many times, I’d ask another person for their opinion, such as friends or family for advice. I’m not one to be ashamed to ask for help, that’s what friends and family are for; some of you reading this might be nodding your head right now, “Yeah, I remember Nye came to me for advice.” Okay, you can stop smiling now. Did I sound stupid to any of you?, probably not, I like to know what my options are before making a decision; there might be a better solution out there that I’ve not thought of, but that’s just me. For some, this might not be a good idea, and if you’ve too much pride, then try to look at the problem from a different perspective, the solution might be right in front of you, it’s just not in black and white.

There is a story that I like to share, I read this a while back and can’t recall if it’s from a magazine or a book, but one thing for certain is that it was written in Thai language. I like this story because things might not appear as is, solution might not be in black or white, and it’s crucial to be able to think on your feet.

Long time ago, there was a crooked wealthy man; he has fallen in love with the farmer’s daughter. One day, he invited the farmer and his daughter to his castle, took them out to his garden of pebbles, which consists of just black and white pebbles. He made an offer to the farmer, which he thought no one in his or her right mind would refuse.

“I like your daughter; if you allow her to marry me then I will forgive all your debt.”

The farmer loved his daughter and refused the offer; the crooked wealthy man thought of another way and said,

“Well, why don’t we bet on something, I will pick out 2 pebbles, 1 black and 1 white, and place both in a cloth bag. If your daughter chooses the white pebble, then I will forgive your debt and she doesn’t have to marry me, but if she chooses the black pebble, then she’d have to marry me, and I will still forgive you your debt.”

The farmer agreed, the crooked wealthy man picked up 2 pebbles from his garden and placed both in a cloth bag. The farmer’s daughter saw that both pebbles were black; she reached into the cloth bag and grabbed 1 pebble, but instead of showing it to the crooked wealthy man, she dropped the pebble to the ground, which then mixed in with the other black and white pebbles in the garden; she looked at the crooked wealthy man and said,

“I apologize that I wasn’t careful and let it dropped from my hand, but that shouldn’t be a problem because since you have 1 black and 1 white pebble in the cloth bag, when I open the bag, which ever color pebble that is in the there, then we’d know the color of the pebble that I dropped.”

The pebble in the cloth bag was black.

“Then the pebble that I dropped must be white color”

The farmer’s debt was forgiven; his daughter didn’t have to marry the crooked wealthy man.

The moral of this story, there’s always a solution to your problem, even if you don’t see it right away.

How do you see your problem? Is your world black and white? If you care to share, please leave a comment here Thanks.