The following may not be the equal of an Aesop’s fable or quite as entertaining as something written by Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm, but it does convey a message of sorts.

I’m pushing the years a bit, but my wife is somewhat younger. As a result, two of our three children are still quite young. Recently our middle child, a boy aged 10, asked me why a certain other child in his class was behaving in a way that seemed out of the ordinary.

I was able to shed some light on this behaviour by pointing out something about one of the other child’s parents. It wasn’t a bad thing, just a physical challenge that might well require some adjustments within that family. Ted immediately understood, but expressed surprise that he had not noticed the situation himself. I told him that he needs to be more observant. Then, in my usual annoying way, (“Oh, Dad!”) I came up with the following allegory that I will share with you.

Life is like a million-piece jigsaw puzzle. Nobody ever puts together all the pieces. But if you can assemble, say 200,000 pieces, and somebody else you know only manages to put together 100,000 pieces, then you are going to see a lot more of the big picture than they are.

Information is power. It’s one of the selling points of the business I am in, the publishing business. But information also yields insight − into why people do the things they do and why events often turn out in predictable ways.

It is important to read, to watch, to talk with others and, especially, to listen.

Alex Carrick

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