I made an interesting observation the other day when talking to someone who was looking at sending their first child to a private, “independent,” school. They said they only really have two options in their local area and if one, in particular, proves out on a financial stability check then that would be their choice.
Having gone through the process before I highly recommended visiting other schools that are outside of their implied commuting radius of comfort. It was a valuable experience to my that I still remember quite well even some 15 years plus later. Having never been in the private school system before it gave me a wonderful view of the landscape to a ecosystem I would be committing almost two decades to going forward.
I specifically said to them that I did not expect it to change their perspective of only having ‘two choices’ but it would expand their understanding, as it did for me, as to where their decision fit into the larger options the world around them has to offer.
Well… they looked at me like I had nine heads. If they only had two choices why would they ever look elsewhere?
Thinking about this conversation in the weeks that followed I realized it is how my brain works on nearly all matters. I want to know what is outside my reach. I want to know the options that I perceive to be below my standards as well. I want to know the spectrum of possibilities to be better connected, informed, and able to expand to the ‘next level’ if life ever opens its doors of opportunity to allow me to do so. On top of this I always get a further appreciation of the abilities and connections I have today.
The brain is an expert filtering machine. Train it to filter things into importance. Do not cheat yourself out opportunities that come your way because preconceived misconceptions of what you think is important. You just might find that some of those things you marked as out of reach with your brain, but took into your heart with complete and glorious ignorance, become closer over time. Closer to the point where, if you still chose to do so, you can make them real for your brain as well.
(Originally posted on Medium)