How Do Your Perceptions Color Your Reality?

You Perceive The Truth Based On Your History

All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions. ~Leonardo da Vinci

What does perceive mean? It means to become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand or interpret or look on (someone or something) in a particular way; regard as. We perceive ourselves and the world around us is very much dependent on our history. You see, when we are in a new situation our mind fills in the blanks based on past experiences. It does this as a form of protection.

Thousands of years ago when we were hunters and gatherers we had to constantly be aware of our surroundings. We had to understand how to read the signs for prey and for predator. How we perceived our surroundings could mean life or death.

Today, our surroundings might not be deadly in the physical sense, however, our mind still operates the same way. This is why we need to be aware of how we not only perceive the world around us, but how we perceive ourselves.

A Parable In Perception

I heard a story about a father, a very wealthy man, who decided to send his son off to understand and appreciate how fortunate he was. So he decided to send him to what the father considered to be a poor family out in the countryside. When the son returned three days later, the father said, “Well son, did you see how poor people can live?” “Yes father, I did,” said the son. “Tell me what you saw?” said the father. “Well, I saw that we have expensive lamps imported from Europe, and they have stars. I saw that we have one dog, and they have four dogs. I saw that we have a swimming pool in our garden, and they have a creek that never ends. Thank you, father for showing me how poor we are.”

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This story is an obvious lesson in perception. We want to believe that everyone sees things the way we do, and that we see it the "right" way. But you have probably heard that saying, there is your side of the story, my side of the story and the real story. Yup! It all comes down to perception.

“We must look at the lens through we see the world, as well as the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.” ~ Stephen R. Covey

It is important that we realize we all see things differently, and how the human mind processes information may not always be "truth". Let's look at an example of perception.

When Mary was a child she was a very pretty girl, though very shy and introverted. The children at school used to tease her because she was so shy. When Mary grew up, she was still very shy and introverted. People would perceive Mary as being "stuck up", and unfriendly. At work one day, one very unhappy colleague made a comment to Mary about being stuck up. Mary was shocked! It honestly never occurred to her that this was how people saw her. She vehemently proclaimed she was no such thing, but that she was painfully shy and insecure. This was Mary's introduction to perceptions.

We Create Our Own Reality Based On Our Perception

According to A CNN article, The Power of Perceptions: Imagining the Reality You Want, we sometimes find ourselves at a crossroads, in a place of uncertainty, faced with perceptions borne of falsehood, misunderstanding, bias or disunity -- perceptions that do not serve us.

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Everyone of us looks at the world through different colored and/or distorted glasses depending on our history. Our goal should be to "correct" our vision through personal development. We need to weed out the beliefs that taint our perception of ourselves and others.

For instance, let's say you walk into a room of strangers. What is the first thing that goes through your mind? Are you thinking these strangers are judging you by your appearance, or do you think, ah, a room full of new friends? This is how you perceive the world. If you felt like everyone was judging you, you need to root out the "lies" that are coloring your perceptions of how the world views you, and how you view the world.

We create our own reality, and it begins with how we perceive the world through the perceptions we have created. Whether you are successful, happy, or hopeful will depend on your perceptions. Take the first step and become aware of how you see things. Ask yourself if it is in your best interest to keep seeing them the same way. Take control of your own reality. If you don't someone, or something else will.