One day a business man had an especially long and draining day. He looked up from his cube and directed his gaze across the maze of exactly similar cubes to the distant window.

Somehow, darkness had fallen while he worked and the temperature had fallen with it. Wearily he looks back at his monitor screen and decides the work can wait. He stretches and secures his station, while shrugging on his coat. He is ready for the long walk to the car.

As he makes his way downstairs, to the expansive parking area, he thinks to himself, at least all the other cars will be gone so my car will be easy to find. Reaching the door he braces himself and steps outside.

The November winds were arriving, and he clutched the jacket a bit tighter as he started walking to the car. As he approached the path leading to his parking lot (1 of 5 parking lots), clutching his coat tight, and still shivering, he notices another feature. In the dim light from the irregularly spaced lights along the path he noticed that during the day, geese had left many presents along the path. The path was fairly coated with green clumps, barely discreditably in the light.

The other way around would add triple the distance to his car, or more. Plus, it may have the same issue along the way. Doggedly, the man decided to continue down the path. That spot to the left looks clear – take a step. That spot straight ahead is ok – take a step. That spot to the right – take a step. Now back to the left, then right – take 2 steps. Looking a head he thought he could go straight, left, left, right, straight, right. Take the steps left, left, right, straight, ri– Oh no I didn’t notice the one there, Compensate and go left with the right leg! Re-balance, that was unexpected. Lets try again. So it goes down the path, zigging and zagging. If he wasn’t so exhausted from the day it would almost be a game.

This occurs to him, and he starts to think about it. Maybe this particular obstacle course is here now, in my reality, in this lighting, to remind me to have some fun, the allow myself to find joy in any situation. Maybe I should lighten up and enjoy this skipping!

Smiling a little bit more, but still tired, he reaches the parking lot. Luckily his car is not far, and feeling a tad more light hearted he gives a little twirl for reaching the parking lot, and steps forward when he notices another present. Quickly compensating he shifts the other way.

Finally he arrives at the car, a bit winded, and puts his hand on the car for just a moment to rest as he fumbles out the key with his somewhat numb fingers (from clutching is jacket in the cold wind). Do to the numbness he has just a bit of an issue getting the key into the car, but it works. He gets in, buckles up and turns the car on, and the heat up. He turns on some music and takes a deep breath to begin the drive home.

He drives out of the parking lot and turns on to the main road. He barely gets up to speed before there is a siren behind him. He looks up and there is a police car coming. He thinks, where did he come from, I didn’t see him anywhere as he hurriedly pulls over.

Surprisingly the police car stops behind him. The businessman thinks “I didn’t do anything, why would he pull me over”, right after thinking “This is just how I needed to end this work day”.

He rolls down the window and the police officer comes up. “Could you please step out of the car?” he said. More surprised the businessman complied wondering why. The police officer asked “I bet you had a pretty hard day at work. Did you have any drinks before leaving since you worked so late?” The businessman replied, “No my company has a strict no Alcohol policy, and I don’t drink anyway”. The police officer replied, “I was parked across the street. I saw you exit the building and stagger down to the parking lot, stabilize yourself on the car as you fumbled with your keys to get into it. It sure appears that you are intoxicated, and I need to do a field test on you.

Belatedly the business man starts to tell the story of his walk from the building to the car, and he and the officer share a bit of a chuckle. The officer lets the business man on his way.

How many truths are there in this story? The business man experienced the walk, and lived the experience. His was a truth. His was also a perception. How bad was the path, how much was it bad lighting, or just weariness, or just being glum. The police officer had a truth for what he witnessed, based on his past experiences. While it seems he was passive in the story, he was actually an active player also. He was present, he made judgments and decided to take action based on those judgments.

In fact, the police officer may be the main character. What if the situation played out for the police officers benefit. What if the business man was the vehicle to remind the police offer to look for the positive explanations first. Maybe later that night he has an emergency call, and because of this encounter he reassesses the situation and saves somebody.

What if this story played out for both of them. Maybe the universe orchestrated the meeting so the business man remembered to have some fun, in any situation, and the police officer renewed his spirit.

But its really about perception and how we look at the situation