If I were to tell you that you have a blind spot in your eye, you might not believe me. But it’s true. There is a spot on our cornea which does not register light, a blind spot in the middle of our vision. Yet we see a complete picture because our brain fills in the missing information.

If I were to tell you that you don’t see much of what is right in front of you, you might disagree. But that’s also true. It’s a matter of attention, and intention. We see what we pay attention to, and we often completely miss what we have no intention to see. Our brain filters out extraneous information, essentially creating a blind spot within our conscious mind.

The other day I was sitting on a bench with my wife outside a shopping center. My complete attention was on two squirrels chasing each other throughout a large tree. They leaped from branch to branch, performing amazing feats of arial acrobatics.

Adding to this excitement was a raven resting in the tree, hopping between branches to avoid be run over by these playful squirrels. The raven seemed to be enjoying their antics also, letting out an occasional light caw as it switched branches, but not flying away.

My wife interrupted to ask me if I’d noticed the odd behavior of two people who had just passed by. They had walked right in front of me, yet I hadn’t noticed them. I had no recollection of anyone walking by.

None of us see everything with perfect clarity. This is a good thing. We’d all likely go quite mad if we tried to listen to every conversation going on around us, or process every bit of data that came through our eyes. So our mind protects us by filtering out things that we have no desire to pay attention to at the moment.

Sometimes we miss something that could be of great benefit to us. Without that input we may make a wrong choice, a bad decision, or miss an opportunity. We’re simply not designed to keep track of everything going on around us at all times.

What’s the solution? People. Each other. When we have others on our side, knowing our intentions, sharing our desires for something more in our life, they can help to fill in our blind spots. This is a powerful result of great friendships, mentors, and intentional networking. When we care about another, when we pay attention to their desires, when we truly want to be of service, then we can offer advice and guidance.

Life is a journey. It’s a lot more fun and interesting when it’s an adventure shared with supportive partners.