I really believe I was born with a different reality than my parents, my siblings, my teachers, my co-workers, and many friends. Lately in conversations with a few people it has become apparent to me that we perceive and judge the same situation with an entirely different view. This truth has made me feel more comfortable with certain friends whom I was observing that no matter what the topic , a few always have had a different interpretation than mine. I have chosen to look at this with a new mindset. It is not about I am right and they are wrong. Because I have never looked at life in a superficial way and have always delved into deeper interpretations , I have felt challenged in living the human experience among many humans. Sometimes I have considered this is because I was born a Visionary Aquarian who since birth questioned the rules of society and when others have clearly misinterpreted or were often clueless in things I state my internal WHAT???? flooded my mind. Most of my adult life because I have experienced the world about me with a Mystical point of view I also questioned if I really am from this planet. Maybe that is just one of my perceptions!
Factors that can influence perceptions are personal experiences, present emotional states, cultural backgrounds, prejudices and biases, unresolved grudges and traumas, and core values. A person who is feeling fearful and anxious may feel defensive and perceive what seems to be a neutral event/situation as threatening while another in the same situation feels calm and grounded. Someone with long held conscious or subconscious beliefs may attach them and only focus / consider an event in a manner based on the cognitive information sandwiched in their pre-existing beliefs.
Individual perceptions shape our behaviors, even our decisions. One person may interpret another’s opinion and actions as rigid while the other may feel they are being open minded. This is because our perceptions are filtered to the lens of how we interpret reality! This fact may help us understand how discrimination is formed against particular groups by demonstrating how distorted and unfair negative attitudes are manifested.
Even all forms of communications are influenced and affected by perceptions. How we think and feel about others and how we feel they think about us significantly factors in how we communicate. Misunderstandings can rise out of our interpretations/misinterpretations of written texts/emails, facial expressions, tone of voice, even choice of vocabulary!
Perhaps greater harmony, especially in strong differences of opinion, could be created in our world if we each became willing to invest in self awareness of our respective perceptions. It may not be easy as perceptions are often ones we have held onto tightly for a lifetime. Many are unwilling to change sheerly out of the resistance to dive deeper and even consider an alternative view. By choosing not just to step outside of our proverbial box, but to throw that box away, and create a new box that may be outside of our safe, comfort zone, we just may succeed in altering our ingrained perceptions. How? First, develop a mindful practice of honest awareness of how and when our perceptions in our past and present influence our opinions, choices, relationships, and actions. If willing to assess ourselves without judgment ,guilt, or regret we may make new discoveries of how our perceptions have been our chosen portals of life experiences. Only by looking at our own perceptions can we decide if they are valid and if they are aligned with how we really want to show up in all areas of our lives.
I personally have found each time I jump off one more proverbial cliff not knowing if I will even land, and ask myself just exactly how I am viewing the world, each of my relationships, and accepting modifications of what I previously thought was the only reality, I am pushed into a new dimension of being a better version of myself!
” All things are subject to interpretation. Which ever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” -Friedrich Nietzche
”Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask: What else could this mean?” -Shannon L Alder
Jaguarwind 