Perceptions

'The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.' ~ Marcel Proust, The Captive

How can several people be involved in the same event and all come away with different recollections of that event? PERCEPTIONS!  How we each perceive things can vary greatly. Just in ourselves, from day to day, our perceptions can differ depending on what mood we are in. If I am feeling happy and something dislikable happens I am more likely to let it go and not dwell on it than if I am in a 'blued out' mood.

Do we always perceive similar events/people the same way every time? Even if the event/person changes over time, do our perceptions remain the same?

After suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder most of my life, I am lucky in that I went through years of intense therapy to change the pathways in my brain. I wasn't able to tolerate medication so I had to get better the 'hard' way. What was also lucky was that I learnt to change the way I looked at things...my perceptions....I literally had to in order to survive!

These skills were very hard to learn. A bit like retraining your brain when you give up smoking. Breaking the chain so that when you sat down for your morning coffee, your brain didn't continue to tell you to reach for the cigarettes.

Our perceptions can literally build us up or crush us. Ultimately the power is ours. Simply (well, not really) by changing the way you look at things, you can alter the way you feel and live your life.

I find so many people are stuck in their ways, their judgements. Do you ever ask yourself, 'what if I am wrong?'.  I try to do this and I find I often am! My perceptions of events and/or people have many times been really off the mark. By stepping back you can analyse your thoughts and actions and see things in a whole new light. Well, I guess the point is to try and see things differently and then assess the situation from a new perspective.

If you change your perceptions, does it change how you feel? If by changing your perceptions does it make you feel better, does it help you to move on?

Changing the pathways in your brain takes time and practise. The first step is simply being aware of your thoughts, what do they mean, how do they make you feel, how do they affect others. Then it is up to you if you should change them.

'One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one's perception of it; more simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them.' ~ Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

One of my all time favourite songs is 'All that we Perceive' by Thievery Corporation... always gets me thinking....