Years ago, I read about a fascinating study done on firefighters. It had been observed that some of them had (what seemed to be) an almost supernatural ability to predict the path of a fire; allowing for them to intuitively know how it would progress. The uncanny level of excellence they exhibited caused researchers to wonder if this was an innate talent or a learned skill.

I had a similar moment recently when I saw someone else display a high level of sight.

After being out of town for a few days, we returned to an ant collective. Like most of us, they were apparently ready to travel again and mistook our home for an AirBnB. As much as I hated to evict them, our lack of a formal rental agreement meant they had to go.

When the gentleman from the pest control company arrived, I explained what had occurred. He let me know he had seen their trail as soon as he walked up. As I shared my surprise, he led me over to the evidence. There, in a spot that I had literally walked over more than a dozen times since we returned home, was a long line of squatters, headed right toward my house.

Naturally, it reminded me about what I had read regarding the firefighters. The study found that because of extensive experience, they could tell how the fire would travel, which allowed them to better fight the blaze. I am guessing it’s the same thing with the pest control professional. They have seen it before, they know what they are looking for and in all actuality they can’t not see the problem.

It made me wonder if we all have some things that are glaringly obvious to us, but not necessarily to anyone else.

Maybe you have an incredible ability to see the best way to solve problems or seem to just know how a space should be oriented or have an amazing ability to match patterns or colors. Whatever it is, it can seem magical to others, but it’s most assuredly not. While it likely capitalizes on your natural talents, it is still a product of experience and effort.

What’s important to remember is that the thing we can’t not see, won’t be what everyone else sees. So, we can’t expect others to be just like us or try to hold them accountable and get frustrated when they don’t perform as we would.

And when you do finally encounter the few people who see what you see?

Well, enjoy being blinded by greatness.