Wisdom in a Dream

Before Thanksgiving hit, I had a dream that I walked into a wisdom course. I woke up with the one question that had been posed to be during that session:

What would it be like if you thought everything you Accepted was Exceptional?

I woke up and thought: Damn. That was profound. Especially given the randomness of most of my dreams. 

I then reflected upon the question. 

Thought #1

Well if you thought everything you Accepted was Exceptional, then consequentially everything you didn't "accept" or "embrace" would be deemed ordinary. 

Therefore, instead of saying: "I hate that kind of food. It's gross," you'd say: "That kind of food is just ordinary. It's not that it's bad -it's just not that exciting or exceptional to me." 

But then, how would you apply that kind of thinking to tragedy? A boy was hit by a car. It's not "exceptional" or "amazing". It's tragic and a hard fact to accept. It also can't be called "ordinary" -because that would be an insult. Tragedy would be the one gray area this theory couldn't quite apply itself to.

Thought #2

Putting the "opposite theory" aside, the initial idea is quite profound. If you genuinely believed that the things you accepted/loved/embraced were Exceptional and the things you didn't weren't bad/evil/negative but just Boringly Ordinary -then you would enhance your life greatly by exemplifying that which you brought into your life as your own. 

For instance: "I don't just like chocolate ice cream -it is exceptional to me."

But things like that can't just be said because the idea sounds nice. You HAVE to find a way to justify it. "Chocolate Ice Cream is Exceptional/Amazing to me because..."

-Because it involves the sense of taste -which is a blessing and a miracle endowed to living beings in and of itself

-Because chocolate tastes sweet to my pallet and brings me a sense of comfort and joy

-Because it can occasionally come with a cone -which I also enjoy eating

-Because it's a better flavor than vanilla (which is just Boring)

-Because it reminds me of fond childhood memories I enjoy recounting

Being asked to give reason for something being Exceptional really makes you see to the heart of why you like/enjoy/embrace/accept/love something. It makes you that much more appreciative and grateful for it. It also makes you more accepting and understanding towards things you don't like as much.