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The Elephant in the Room: How Perspective Shapes Truth
13 Plays18 days ago
What if what you know—what you’ve experienced—is only part of the story?
In this episode of The GR8TNESS Router, we’re challenging the way we see the world, the way we listen, and even the way we judge ourselves. Using a timeless story as our guide, we’ll unpack what happens when certainty clouds understanding—and why perspective isn’t about being right, but about being open.
Get ready to question what you think you know. Because once you do? The whole picture starts to change.
Plus, if you’re navigating a transition—career shifts, unexpected pivots, or just figuring out what’s next—stick around for a plug on Laid Off Lemonade, a book designed to help you turn setbacks into opportunities.
Let’s get into it.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:08
Speaker
This is the Greatness Router, where we connect purpose to process one conversation at a time.
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome back.
Introduction to 'Laid Off Lemonade'
00:00:25
Speaker
Before we get into it real quick, if you're navigating a career pivot, dealing with a layoff or just figuring out what's next, I want to put you onto something.
00:00:35
Speaker
Laid Off Lemonade is a book I wrote for moments exactly like these where life hands you a reset and you've got to decide what you're going to do to move forward.
00:00:47
Speaker
It's part inspiration, part action plan, and it's available now on Amazon. You can also hit up laidofflemonade.com for more details. All right, now let's talk perspective.
Perspectives and the Elephant Analogy
00:01:02
Speaker
A little caveat before we hop in. If I showed up in a village and someone told me to blindly touch an animal I'd never seen before, I'd have questions.
00:01:17
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A lot of them. But this story, it's not about logic. It's about perspective. So let's go there.
00:01:30
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I call this story, The Many Perspectives of the Elephant.
00:01:38
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Six travelers, three women, Three men find themselves in a village that speaks of a mysterious creature. It's an elephant.
00:01:52
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None of them have ever seen one before. They want to understand it for themselves, but it's night. No lights, so all they have is their sense of touch.
00:02:07
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One woman feels the trunk. and She says, It's a thick, moving vine. One man touches the ear and he says, no, no, it's as wide as a fan.
00:02:27
Speaker
Another woman grips the leg.
00:02:31
Speaker
Y'all are way off. This is a tree trunk.
00:02:38
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A man brushes the side. Nope. Solid. It's a wall. The next woman catches the tail.
00:02:51
Speaker
Rope. It's that simple. And the last man, he finds the tusk and crosses his arms. Y'all are all wrong.
Understanding Partial Truths
00:03:04
Speaker
It's smooth and sharp like a spear.
00:03:11
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Each one of them is certain, so certain, in fact, that they start arguing. Then an elder from the village speaks.
00:03:24
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You have all touched the same creature, she says, yet each of you describes something different.
00:03:36
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Not one of you is wrong. but none of you are completely right either.
00:03:46
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Silence. Because now they get it. What they knew, what they were so sure of was only a piece of something much bigger.
00:04:03
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So here's the question.
00:04:06
Speaker
What if you knew
00:04:10
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What if what you know, what you experienced is real but incomplete?
00:04:22
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Think about it. How many times in life have we stood firm in what we believe only to realize later we were missing a whole part of the story?
00:04:37
Speaker
What if the way we see things, our opinions, our reactions, even how we see ourselves is only part of the truth?
Mistaking Partial Truth for Whole Truth
00:04:52
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Because if six people can experience the same elephant in six completely different ways, what does that say about the way we move through the world?
00:05:07
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Let's break this down because the angle changes everything.
00:05:16
Speaker
Angle number one. Where are you mistaking your truth for the truth?
00:05:26
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Each traveler knew what they had felt. Their experience, it was real. But was it the whole truth? No.
00:05:40
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And if we're being real, quite frankly, we do this all the time. Collectively. We have experiences.
00:05:51
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We form opinions. We collect knowledge. And then we get so sure that we forget there's always more to the story.
Listening to Understand
00:06:04
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So let me ask you. Where in your life are you mistaking your truth for the truth?
00:06:16
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Is it possible that there's more to the story than what you've always believed?
00:06:26
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Angle two, are you listening to understand or just waiting to respond?
00:06:36
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See, the travelers weren't listening. They were waiting for their turn to be right.
00:06:45
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And let's not pretend that's just them. That's us. How often do we enter conversations already convinced we're right?
00:07:00
Speaker
How often do we listen, not to understand, but just to form our comeback?
00:07:10
Speaker
Think about the last time someone challenged your perspective. Did you actually stop to consider their words? Or were you just waiting for your turn to argue?
00:07:26
Speaker
We tend to do this with strangers, with friends, with family. Hell, sometimes we do it with ourselves. Are you listening to understand or just waiting for your turn to talk?
Self-Judgment and Broader Perspectives
00:07:47
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Angle three. What part of yourself are you judging from only person? ankle
00:08:00
Speaker
The travelers thought they knew the elephant, but they only touched a piece of it. What if we do the same thing with ourselves?
00:08:11
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Think about it. How often do we define ourselves by one experience, one failure, one shortcoming?
00:08:24
Speaker
We make a mistake and suddenly we're quote unquote a failure. We struggle once and now we're quote unquote not good enough. We fall short and now we quote unquote think we will always fall short.
00:08:42
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What if that one piece isn't the whole picture though? What if you're judging yourself off a fraction of who you really are?
00:08:54
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So let me ask you, what part of yourself are you judging from only one angle?
Key Lessons on Perspective
00:09:08
Speaker
So let's step back. What have we really been talking about? First, how easy is it to mistake our truth for the truth?
00:09:22
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Then, How we listen, are we really trying to understand or are we just waiting to be right?
00:09:34
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And finally, how we judge ourselves, are we looking at the full picture or just one isolated piece?
00:09:50
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Because there's one thing this story reminds us of, it's this. Perspective changes everything.
00:10:03
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And maybe, just maybe, the most powerful thing we can do is step back. ask better questions, and be open to seeing more than just our piece of the elephant.
Personal Insights on Observation
00:10:23
Speaker
But y'all know me. I have to give you a little personal at attribution, you know. Let's bring this one home. I was raised by a counselor. Someone who didn't just hear people, but listened listened for what was said, and maybe more importantly, what wasn't.
00:10:46
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And when you grow up around that, you absorb it, whether you realize it or not. i learned early on how to observe, how to watch, how to listen, how to process.
00:11:06
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But knowing about something and knowing how to apply are two very different things. That took time, experience, and a few humbling moments where I had to confront the fact that sometimes what I thought I knew was only a fraction of the full picture.
00:11:33
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So let's fast forward a few decades. And that lesson I tucked away, yeah, I had to unpack it. Because here's what I've come to understand.
00:11:45
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Observation is a superpower. Observation is an act of curiosity.
00:11:57
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And curiosity is the nutrient necessary for growth.
00:12:06
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What I learned from my father wasn't just how to listen. It was how to pause, consider, and expand my view before deciding I had all the answers.
00:12:22
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And that's why the story resonates so much with me. Because if I had been one of those travelers, let's be real, I wouldn't have been arguing.
00:12:34
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i would have been standing back. listening, piecing together perspectives, mentally sketching the image before even reaching out to touch this mysterious creature in the dark.
Approaching Truth with Context
00:12:52
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Because here's the truth. Perspective provides degrees of context. And the more context we gather, the closer we get to the whole truth.
00:13:10
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And if we're too focused on proving our view is the only one that's right, we miss the chance to see something bigger than ourselves.
00:13:25
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All right, that was my soapbox and my two cents. Let's bring this full circle.
00:13:32
Speaker
We started with a story, six travelers, one elephant and six come completely different truths. We broke it down to how we mistake our truths for the whole truth, how we listen or don't, and how often we tend to judge ourselves from only one angle.
00:14:03
Speaker
And yet we landed here. Because perspective isn't about being right. It's about being open.
Embracing Different Perspectives
00:14:14
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So here's my challenge to you. This week, try making space for a different perspective. Stop mid-conversation.
00:14:28
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Not to correct. Not to prove. But just to consider.
00:14:39
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Question a belief you've held onto for years. Just to see if there's more to the story.
00:14:50
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Because when we stop believing that our truth is the only truth, that's when we actually start growing.
00:15:05
Speaker
And If you're in a moment of transition, maybe working your career or just trying to, I'm sorry, reworking your career or just trying to figure out what's next, check out Laid Off Lemonade.
00:15:20
Speaker
It's a guide for turning setbacks into opportunities and it's available now on Amazon. Or you can visit me live at laidofflemonade.com.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:15:32
Speaker
Until next time, keep listening, keep expanding, and most of all, keep making room for a bigger picture. It's me, Zena C., and I hope you have a beautiful day.
00:15:49
Speaker
Peace.
00:15:54
Speaker
And that's a wrap on this episode of The Greatness Router. If you found some value in today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, rate, and definitely share. It helps more people connect to the journey of greatness.
00:16:07
Speaker
Until next time, keep moving with purpose.