Perceptions

Your perceptions do not merely reflect an objective, unresponsive reality over which you have no control. Your perceptions shape the reality that you experience.

I definitely like the ring of it!

But, being the person I am I like to concretize ideas. So do you have an example of a situation in which one's perception shapes the reality that one experiences? Would love to elaborate on this.

So true......... food for thought for all who want to grow and be healthier.

Yes you're right and that's why it's so important and interesting to see just where your perceptions originate and why they are what they are! Our minds are interesting!

Good one Tomi!! And so very true!

withit - Here's an example I think....LOL

My perception - I see a person with a mad expression and I think, geeeze, what a grouch.

My reason - As a child, if I had a mad expression on my face I was called a grouch. No one asked what was bothering me, they just put off my emotion like I had no right to feel it.

In Reality - This individual I see with the mad expression may have a completely good reason to be upset. They may have things in their lives that are extremely stressful and they are making this individual's life a living hell.

I have to think about things like this because of the ingrained response I learned as a child. I have to make myself realize that there are always external/internal factors that affect us all and end up generating our facial expressions and moods.

This may be lame and not very deep, but I just woke up and it's the best I could muster up at the moment....LOL.

So true! I'm reading a book about rational living. It deals with how our perceptions influence our thoughts, behaviors & moods. I really need to change a lot of my perceptions, because they are causing me to feel depressed & very bad about myself. My doc is working with me to learn how to rethink & not automatically jump to negative conclusions. She gives me assignments to do--dealing with situations where I get sad or angry due to my perceptions & writing how these perceptions are not necessarily true & that I can change my thoughts & core beliefs.

My perceptions often come from "mind reading." I think I know what my husband is thinking & it's always bad--I'm too heavy; I quit playing tennis due to my being unable to handle the stress of matchs, therefore, he thinks I'm lazy & weak-minded, etc.

I have beliefs that are not based in reality. I don't have any evidence that points to these beliefs (I'm worthless, I'm incompetent, etc.), but they color all my thoughts & actions.

I practice "thought stopping" to keep me from spiraling down because of a negative perception. I'm not very good at it yet, but I think in time I will be able to exchange my negative stuff for more realistic thoughts--like I have flaws, but that doesn't mean I'm worthless. I'm overweight, but that doesn't determine whether I have good self-esteem or not. I don't need to punish myself for the rest of my life for the things I've done when manic or depressed.--Suzy

Withit, Suzy hit the nail right on the head!! Go with that!

An example I have is a "perceived" problem that my husband has. He just got a bill for $2500. To him, it was earth shattering. All he saw was the negative aspects of it. As he talked, he brought up that he's got a $5000 bond or something that will mature next month. OMGOSH! It was gonna take half of it to pay this bill!

What I did was point out that he DID have the money to pay it and still have half of the money left. I suggested he should be GLAD that he could pay the bill rather than focus on the fact that half of the money would be gone. GEEEEZ! He didn't even have any plans for it!

I'm not sure if it helped him, but at least *I* know there's nothing to worry about. The bill can get paid!

If you look hard enough, there is always something positive to find in what seems a negative situation.

One more "edit" It's YOUR choice, a choice you consciously make as to whether you're going to focus on the negative ... or the positive.

visual illusions are another case. the way things seem to us can be quite different from how they actually are.

e.g.,

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/sze_muelue/index.html

Perception is a big thing. What we perceive can be totally different from what is actually going on. Consider the following, which is a buddhist tale..

Suppose we are walking down the country road at night. We look down at the ground and suddenly we see a snake and become frightened. Then we turn our flashlight on it. We look again and we see that there is only a rope, no snake. The rope was there all along, never a snake, but the rope appeared to us to be a snake because our sight was obscured by the darkness, because we did not focus our light on it. As a result of seeing a snake we became filled with fear and worry. When we found that it was only a rope, the appearance of the snake dissolved. We can compare the snake to the idea of self or ego, the flashlight to wisdom.

This is exactly why I read posts on line more than once before replying so that I am not replying based on one word that I may be taking out of context and such things as that or because I may be having a bad day.

Hey! Not bad!! Only one little blue line to the left of center! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

WOW, ya'll!! I didn't expect to get so many responses, not to mention such great ones! Thanks!!

I'm also glad that someone else besides me is working on this!

quantum physics: the observer effect

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Your perceptions shape the reality that you experience.

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So true.