The Black Dot

A beloved teacher walked into her classroom and announced a surprise test. She handed out the test papers face down. When she told the students to turn them over, they were entirely confused. There were no questions—only a single, small black dot in the very center of the blank white page.

"I want you to write an essay about what you see there," the teacher instructed.

The students nervously began writing. At the end of the class, the teacher read the essays aloud. Without exception, every single student had focused entirely on the black dot, trying to explain its position, its darkness, and its contrast.

The teacher smiled gently. "None of you will be graded on this, but I want you to learn a lesson. Not one of you wrote about the white part of the paper. You all focused solely on the tiny dark spot.

"Life is exactly like this paper. We have an entire canvas of bright, beautiful white space—our family, our health, our friends, the miracles of nature, and God's love. Yet, we allow our minds to focus entirely on the single dark dot—a health issue, a financial worry, or a difficult relationship. The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have, but they pollute our entire minds."