I had a new experience this morning.  When I woke up and came out to turn the heat up, there was a mouse in the center of the front entryway.  I still put the heat up while watching him.  He had his back to me and looked quite large.  He appeared to be eating something.

Could I get the front door open and startle him into running out? Unlikely he'd go toward the cold.  Should I attempt to sneak up on him and toss a pot over him?  I was barefoot and thought about how he could suddenly dart my way.  Eeeek.

I went back to bed while the house heated up and contemplated what to do about 'Bold' the Mouse sitting center stage.  Shoes would be essential and I decided to take my shower and dress before venturing into the living area again.

I went through the dining room and looked into the front half of the entry area where Bold had lingered.  Gone.  Brief relief; then I saw him.

Bold was lying on his side, curled up just a bit as one would when sleeping comfortably.  He wasn't big at all.  He was a small mouse who had come in from the cold night to get warm and find a bit to eat.  Evidently he had come across the tempting poison set out for just such an unwanted visitor.

I was sad to see him lying there in our entry and sadder still as I swept him out the front door, back into the cold.

How a perception can change, viewing the same mouse, but from a different paradigm.   Even his size changed in my mind's eye.

Imagine what could happen
when we simply ask,
'What if?'

Paradigms have been one of my favorite concepts for a number of years.  When we hold a certain view, what we see conforms to that view.  When we change our view (perspective, facts, beliefs, etc.) everything else changes about what we perceive.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah.   We can make a new year.

Jean Loxley-Barnard has been a writer all her life and studied both sociology and psychology at George Washington University where she earned a B.A. Her company, The Shopper, Inc., encompasses all the Loxley-Barnard family publications - The Shopper Magazines and Doctor to Doctor Magazine. She has been in the advertising, consulting and publishing business for 39 years.