Filters

In surfing and in life it's really how you look at

things that matters. What filters do you use that

influence what you see or what you hear. How do

your filters impact the quality of your life, your

relationships, and how you communicate with others?

I listened as a surfer I know talked about a recent

session. "It was amazing...so good and not at all crowded"

Another surfer who was surfing at the same spot and

at the same time told me "it wasn't really that great, the

wind was blowing hard and it held you up making it tough

to make the drop". Yet another told me "the ramps on the

inside lefts were great for launching airs. I had a blast!"

Three surfers all seeing things from their own unique

perspective, judging the same wave in very different ways.

I hear similar things in my office. Just tonight I worked

with a couple whose big issue revolved around one partner

hearing something through their own filter. What they heard

and ultimately reacted to was not at all what their partner

actually meant or said. They never even thought that

they could have been filtering the message through their

own perspective and not actually hearing what was said

or what was meant.

Do your filters get you in trouble? Confuse the messages?

Dictate your reactions? Try to understand and listen to what

is actually being said not what you think was said or what you

think it meant. Slow down before you react. The same surf,

the same time, 3 different perspectives. Probably happens in your

life alot.