My wife and daughter picked me up for lunch yesterday and as we were driving to Arby’s, we passed the county recreation department. The signs for signing up kids for soccer this fall were evident.
 ”Hey, look at that,” Sally exclaimed, “Soccer, like I used to do.”
Without missing a beat, Jane replied, “Yes, isn’t that amazing, they’re still doing sports for kids even though you’ve grown up.”
Sally laughed out loud. We all did.
It’s easy to loose sight of of things when our personal frames of reference change.Even though experiences remain the same for others, like rec department employees, or seem new, like kids who have never done a fall season of soccer.
When we work with students, it offers a chance to get excited about what was once excited and now is routine and commonplace to us. Sharing our experiences to newcomers is gratifiying and rewarding. But revisiting our own experiences can refresh our perspectives and re-stimulate ideas anew.
A few weeks ago I saw the notes to a presentation I did years ago. It was old, but when I looked at it, it triggered an idea that resulted in new material for an upcoming presentation because when I first did the presentation, I had not had the advantage of seeing new perspectives I’ve visited over the last three years.
My frame of reference had changed. My ideas were more developed and hopefully, more profitable for my client next month.
Take time to revisit old frames of reference and view them through the lens of newer experiences. You may just see things in an improved way.
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