Have you ever been stung by a bee?
It can really hurt… depending on your reaction, the type of bee, etc. you might swell up, feel pulsating pain, and watch it slowly fade away over a period of 3 days to a week. If you’re allergic, the reaction can be fatal.
So, at first glance, it seems that people should avoid bees. Yet, if we look at bees from a different angle, we’ll realize they:
- Pollinate 1/6th of the world’s flowers
- Make honey
- Pollinate over 400 species of agricultural plants (giving us fruits and veggies, such as beans, tomatoes, carrots, and onions)
When you think about bees for their planetary function — rather than a nuisance for human beings — it becomes obvious they are an important species. Bees help us eat, help keep oxygen in the air, and they even make a naturally-occurring form of sugar that will energize us and increase focus when we’re low on energy.
You see, the lens with which we see bees determines our reality about them. Bees are either annoying, risky, and seen as a pest; or, they are selfless, hard-working, and important for planetary abundance. When you shift your lens, your reality also shifts.
Instead of spraying your garden to get rid of bees, you may end up planting some flowers especially for them. And instead of chasing away all bees, you might find yellow jackets are the real culprit and honeybees are innocent and desirable.
Often times, the information we’re missing skews our realities and leads to poor decision-making. More often than not, even ‘hard science’ changes with time. So, the next time you’re inclined to pass judgment on someone or something, please consider how a bit more information could radically shift your perspective.
Perspective is everything. Learn to perceive this world as you’d like to see it, rather than from a lower place that compares it to something better. You deserve to be happy, and this is a powerful step towards happiness.
I’m so grateful for you,
Kareem
Originally published at drkareem.com on March 10, 2017.