The Power of Perception
Life is full of experiences, and these are the things we learn the most from. Experience teaches us what is safe, what is dangerous, whom to trust, whom to fear. Experience is what gives form and breadth to our skills and abilities. It’s the literal point of the saying “there’s a difference between theory and application.” The difference is experience.
Experience is also a funny thing, because it is tempered by our perception, as all of life is. If you have ever watched a movie as an adult that you first watched as a young child, you likely were surprised to find that you saw the movie differently, the moments you remembered as a young child hit with a deeper or altered meaning for the adult version of you. This phenomenon is emotional maturity. We grow, and we come to see the world and our place in it differently. Our perception changes. It’s malleable, pliable, capable of great growth, just as we are. It can also be severely limiting and potentially harmful if left unchecked and unchallenged. It is good to question the world we see, to process our experiences to a point of understanding and acceptance, so that we can internalize the lessons learned and continue our journey.
It’s our perception that guides our narrative; it’s the voice we hear telling us that we’re bad when we’re struggling and that tells us we’re good when we’re on top of the world. It’s the voice of our beliefs and our values. It’s the vehicle of our connection to the world, the universe, and ultimately to ourselves. This is why it’s important to maintain its health, which we do by challenging it. It is ultimately within our control, though it is not always easy to see or maintain this control. It is through empathy, for ourselves and the world, coupled with a desire for growth that we maintain this sight and control of our perception.
There is a middle-ground between absolute optimism and absolute pessimism where there is balance between reality and hope for what reality could be. This balance is the sweet spot where we believe in ourselves and see the world as capable of growth and change, which we also see reflected in ourselves. We will not always be in this sweet spot. Sometimes we will be higher and sometimes we will be lower. That is okay. We are not meant to be at our best or our worst 100% of the time. It’s the ups and downs in life, the adversities that we face and the challenges we overcome, that plant the seeds for the greatest growth.
We get to decide what matters to us, and our perception is what allows us to do that. It allows us to let go of our fears or to act despite them, to identify what values are truly our own, to be true to ourselves, to our vision, and to be able to grow and adapt. Our perception empowers us to act on our vision, to learn from our experiences, and to be who we are.
It can also cripple us.
Perception is immensely powerful. If we allow it to, it can derail us and grasp onto the negative beliefs that keep us from the truth of ourselves like our lives depend on it. It can become the dictator of our existence, turning us into an oppressed nation of our own mind. This is why it must be challenged. Truth is ultimately relative, and on some level, our brains are cognizant of this fact. Our brains will seize upon whatever truth will keep us physically safe, especially if we are accustomed to living in fear.
Fear is immensely powerful itself. Many of us live with fear every day, from fear for our physical safety to fear of failure in its many forms. Fear can control our perception with almost as much strength as we can. This is why we must challenge our fears and work to overcome them, so that they do not become the controller of our narrative, of our perception, of us.
We are the champion of our own story. We have the power to control our narrative, through maintaining healthy control of our perception and challenging our fears. We can thrive and be true to ourselves. We just have to use our perception for good.
