Think Outside the Box!
Posted on Monday, 5 November 2012 and filed under Maurice Thurman , Success Portal , . You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry from your site
Problems that require solutions are a
feature of our everyday life. We encounter them during our daily routines and
solve most of them routinely, with hardly a thought - Where did I put those car
keys? Others require more effort on our part, and for some problems, we may
need to seek the help and co-operation of others. But, very occasionally, we
experience a problem that seems to transcend all reason; it just doesn't seem
possible that it could have actually happened: So how on earth can a solution
be found? At such times, we need to rid ourselves of our preconceptions, prejudices and rigid mindsets and allow ourselves 'to think outside of the box'. By stubbornly sticking to ingrained beliefs, we can become the victim of unwittingly hiding the solution from ourselves.
One such classic problem, that literally
stopped myself and a friend of mine in our tracks, is the topic of this story.
It was the middle of winter. Snow was
deep on the ground and a climbing friend and I thought we would set ourselves
the challenge of crossing one of the most isolated moors in the UK - Bleaklow
Moor. It carries its nature in its name.
The UK cannot offer hiking challenges on
the scale of the European Alps or Himalayas, but the challenge that day was
particularly appealing because of the fog. Visibility was no more than
100metres. Climbers refer to such conditions as a 'whiteout'; when the ground
and the sky are indistinguishable from each other and there is no horizon upon
which to take a compass bearing.
On reaching the start of the moor we came
across two fence posts, seemingly marking the last outposts of humanity. If
there was an established track between these two posts it was well buried under
the blanket of snow. It was evident to us that no-one else had passed this way
recently.
We were both experienced navigators, but
it fell to me to be in charge of the compass. I set a course from the map,
intended to take us across the moor to a road. I allowed for a margin of error
to either the left or right due to the fog. We expected the journey to take
just a few hours.
During the next hour or so, we passed
through a Christmas wonderland of snow-covered trees and crossed a stream that
was struggling not to give up its liquid state. We also traversed countless
peat bog gullies that famously characterize this particular moor - they make up
a maze of natural trenches; squelchy ascents and descents in summer and the
cause of sudden surprises when buried under snow during winter.
Eventually, we came across our first
indication of other human activity; two sets of footprints in the snow. They
were heading in our direction so we followed them and very soon they passed
between a couple of fence posts. WAIT A MINUTE. Didn't we see these fence posts
before? Not possible! But they did look familiar. Not possible! We had been
walking for about an hour already; probably covering about 4km. I had been
constantly referring to the compass to follow a strict bearing; 10 degrees west
of magnetic north.
Well there was one way to find out if we
had been here before. We carefully checked the soles of our boots for size and
pattern. We discovered, to our amazement, that there was an exact match with
the ones in the snow. THEY WERE OUR FOOTPRINTS!
We stood there in disbelief. This was
surreal. This could not possibly have happened. We had rigorously followed a
compass bearing.
Suspicion then fell upon the compass
itself. My friend tested it by walking as far away from the fence posts as he
could without loosing sight of them. He took a bearing on one of them then
moved position and again took a bearing. All readings were as he would expect.
There was nothing wrong with the compass. THIS WAS SURREAL. What world were we
living in?
We knew that there were areas in the UK
that have some anomalous magnetic activity but nowhere to the extent that a
compass could point north, west, south and then east and walk you in a circle.
We put ourselves through thought processes worthy of a Monty Python sketch;
trying to make sense of nonsense.
Finally, I noticed that if I took a
compass bearing on one of the posts with my left held, it gave a different
result from if I used my right hand. SURREAL. But at least it was admissible
evidence. My friend had no such similar problem. His hands showed no particular
favoritism towards the compass bearing. So, the problem lay with me then.
After much 'messing about' I discovered
that the compass needle was actually attracted towards my left leg - more
specifically my trouser pocket. I kept my Swiss army knife in there but nothing
else. It soon became evident that my knife, unknown to me, had somehow, at some
time in the past, become strongly magnetized.
On the walk, I had consistently used my
left hand to hold the compass and consistently held it at waist level, close to
my leg. It was due to the frequency of readings taken that we had actually
walked in a circle and not just ended up to the left of our intended
destination. My degree of sanity was no longer under suspicion! So, we set off
again. My friend was happy for me to hold the compass as long as he could take
charge of my knife (mental note made to get it back from him!).
So, an exhilarating day, with plenty of
exercise, both mental and physical, solving problems along the way. We also
learnt to allow check for items carried that may possibly affect a compass.
Author: Maurice Thurman
Copyright © 2012 Sandhya Maarga Holistic Living Resources
Holistic Living Annex (NOV 2012)
3 Responses for “ Think Outside the Box!”
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Inspirational Gallery
If we are too stubborn, we normally don't get far. That's life. But human beings are so rigid in their ways. We have this ego that we are right all the time. Sometimes all it takes is to set aside this ego to see the clear picture.
A very true observation Nancy and very clearly stated. We are students from cradle to grave and ego has no place in the curriculum.
I'm new to this site, but I love the stories very much. They're all very uplifting. The section on natural health is very informative too. Kudos.