A ship was sailing in the ocean when a light appeared on the opposite side on its sailing course. Rushed, the captain orders to send a signal advising the other ship on the opposite side to deviate its course by 20 degrees. The message was delivered, the sergeant on the other side confirmed the intersecting course and advised the first ship to shift its course by 20 degrees. Furious, the captain sends the signal himself saying: “This is the captain speaking, change your course or we will crash!” The sergeant agrees and replies: “This is a sergeant speaking, I agree, we advise that you shift your course by 20 degrees.” The captain was impatient and threatens the sergeant by saying: “this is a battleship, I order you to change your course.” The sergeant replies: “this is a light house”.

The captain changed his ship’s course.

A paradigm is a distinct set of concepts, beliefs and patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates and standards; constituting a legitimate base for an aspect or field in life.
From the captain’s paradigm, he was right; meanwhile on the opposite side, the sergeant’s paradigms showed that he was right too.
From the captain’s paradigm, he was right; meanwhile on the opposite side, the sergeant’s paradigms showed that he was right too.

A paradigm is the lens through which we see the world. It may be blurry, too zoomed in or too zoomed out, slightly to left or slightly to the right and it could be completely off.

These paradigms are greatly affected by our principles, values and beliefs: our CENTERS.

We all have centers that control our daily lives one way or another, centers providing a narrow and focused paradigm blinding the bigger picture and clouding our judgments.

We might be spouse centered finding ourselves dependent of someone else, losing wisdom and power in the counter dependent negative interactions with our spouse.

Family centered getting our sense of security or growth exclusively from our family members, thus becoming vulnerable to any changes or influences.

Money centered, making decisions based on income and expenses, seeing the value of items only by their price and neglecting family or other priorities assuming everyone will understand that the economic demands come first.

Possessions centered, where our significance comes from materialistic items like fashionable clothes, home, cars and jewelry but also intangible possessions of fame, glory and status. If my state of security and lies in my reputation or my possessions, then I will live my life in a constant state of threat that these possessions might be lost or stolen.

Friend/enemy centered, making decisions based on dependence of one person or a group of friends. Acceptance and belonging to that group becomes the main concern, accepting or rejecting jobs, judging other people, going places and doing things based on the paradigm of making our friends “happy.”

Self centered, violating the values of people around us by focusing too much on ourselves and becoming selfish, instead of taking part of interdependent relationships where service, production and contribution are the core values of our personal growth and fulfillment.

These are some of the centers we may be submerged in, dominating and controlling our actions without taking into account other paradigms.
Finding your center is important to your well being and to living a balanced life, but what is more important is to balance your centers to constantly shift your paradigms.
Shifting your paradigm will give you a clear and accurate image of the world and provide you with more wisdom to act.

What is your dominant center today? How do you think it is negatively affecting your other centers?