The Black Spot Syndrome

Suppose that before this image was a piece of a white paper. Then, a drop of ink was placed in the center. Now, what do you see? You only see a dot- a taint on a perfectly clean sheet. You stare at it. You focus at it. And the rest just fades away...

This is a parable of a tainted piece of paper. Once something has been stained by any dark colored material, people tend to give focus on the stain rather than the surrounding entity. 

Same goes with life. 

When we meet someone, we see him/her as a person of possibilities. We believe in everything he/she does, most especially when he/she has shown the potential of being a trusted one. But once he/she commits a mistake, we tend to judge that person. We focus on the flaws, instead of the good deeds he/she has done. We tend to overlook that he/she is still that same old person whom we met; whom we believed in; whom we trusted. As one blogger mentioned, this is called the Black Spot Syndrome. 

The Black Spot Syndrome is a disorder which most of us unconsciously have. Admit it or not, when a person does us wrong, we are hurt. In effect, we easily label that person as the despicable one. We judge him/her right away. What's worse is when that person exerts effort to remove the "black spot", we still look at it as if that spot is all that matters; that it cannot be erased  with an apology and constant effort. The person is left with the question, "How will I make it right?". We know that right in the very corner of our conscience, we are just being stubborn. We focus on ourselves being the victims rather than the ones who must forgive. 

The Black Spot Syndrome is a disease and the cure lies upon our hands. If only we look at the good side of things; if only we recall all the good memories; if only we realize that it is just a dot compared to a vast white background. The dot is small and insignificant if we only just widen our horizon and take a look at the whole picture. 

If there's one person who hurt you badly, be it intentionally or unintentionally, try to look back at your shared memories- the good ones, the most remarkable events, the ones which took your breath away. Now could you still see the black spot?

*Disclaimer: I forgive you. Thanks for the peace offering. ^_^