Preconceived notions caused it all!
Fact or Fiction:“Someone Stole my Xanthan Gum?”
I tore through the kitchen like a madman. I wanted to make gluten-free tortillas, but the xanthan gum ingredient disappeared. Someone had thrown it away. I just knew it! The cost of groceries has skyrocketed, and having so many of my specialty items tossed was maddening. I would think that whoever did it would’ve asked before they threw it; just because they didn’t know what it was used for is no excuse. This is what happens when you have a household of five adults.
And then there’s the constant cleaning. OMG, everything gets moved around, never appearing in the same place twice. No wonder more things aren’t lost, or maybe they are, and I haven’t yet realized it. I think people would understand the effect of inflation on the cost of groceries!
I know the Xanthan gum was in a smaller, foil-like package in the drawer. I explained my predicament to my son, my wife, and anyone else I could get to stop long enough to hear me out, asking them, have you seen it? This usually resulted in them throwing their hands up in the air while they ran away, shouting over their shoulder, “I didn’t take it; it wasn’t me.”
So, I waited a few days and dug through the kitchen drawers again and again and again, well maybe five times in all, before giving up. I don’t give up easily, you know. I was getting desperate as I was running out of tortillas. I finally gave in and went to our local grocery store to buy more Xanthan gum. I purchased my last container from them, so I was sure they would have it in stock. As I made my way to the store, I chuckled to myself, knowing that as soon as I got home with the new container, the old one would re-appear; it’s like a planetary rule, right?
As I looked through the store, I couldn’t find any Xanthan Gum; they must have reorganized the store again, as I’m sure I knew where it was. Finally, an employee helped me locate the product, sitting in a round plastic bottle-type container on the shelf in all its splendid glory, exactly where it was before. I was stunned; I instantly knew where the old container I thought was tossed was located. It was never in a foil pouch!
I can’t imagine this scenario has ever happened to you.
A preconceived notion kept me from seeing the Xanthan Gum bottle in my cupboard. It even kept me from seeing it on the grocery store shelf!
This caused me to think, how many times has this happened to me before? Having experienced the frustration, I now believe it happens more frequently than I realize. It took hard evidence that the container holding the Xanthan gum was NOT a foil pack but a tiny plastic bottle. Upon seeing the hard evidence, my mind instantly knew the location of the Xanthan gum in my kitchen! In hindsight, I was even more amazed that my family members had told me they remembered the foil pack; I was that convincing. What I was looking for was NEVER in a foil pack. It was always in this plastic bottle.
So, let me ask, what preconceived notions are behind our unhinged world of today? You know, how do people perceive immigrants, homeless people, government employees? Take a moment and think of someone most people have little to no information about. How are they described?
Without verifying what we do not know, we make up stories with very few facts, mostly hearsay or gossip. Like I did when I looked for my Xanthan gum. I wanted to believe so strongly that it was packaged in a foil pack, and I even convinced my family that it was a foil package! I believed so strongly in the story in my head that it led me astray. If only it were easy to find the facts behind today's big stories.
I do think there are actions we can take to help with our fact-finding.
1. Gather more data and do online research. Look for reliable sources that you do not use every day. I went to the grocery store; it took an employee helping to find the Xanthan gum to give me some new hard facts that changed the narrative in my head.
2. Have conversations with people that may be considered outside of your tribe. Ask questions and listen to what they say.
3. You always have the option of having no opinion. There is never a need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control or have limited information. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone. Say, I have no opinion about this.
To survive and thrive, we must start having honest conversations, listening, and respecting each other, which will constantly challenge our preconceived notions. Taking charge of our mind is powerful; why are we wasting it by letting others tell us what to think?
As said in “The Prism, Wisdom from Marcus Aurelius by Gurwinder April 26th, 2024,” Published in “substack.”
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Gurwinder