What we stand for can be a variety of things that impacts our lives in different ways. We all have certain values or belief systems that determine the way we approach our lives. What you stand for today may change in the future and, if you look in the past, you probably used to stand for something else.
What does it mean when perception is reality?
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Perception is reality.” … This means when you have an idea of something, and your brain is convinced of the truth, then it is the truth. It becomes the truth.
For example, a beautiful person who thinks they’re ugly, their perception of themselves is negative, and so their reality will be negative.
It’s an interesting concept, and one that if you understand it it can lead to less anxiety about your life and who you are.
Whenever we stand for something, it’s how our life plays out.
This is all impacted by our perception. It’s important to look at changing our perception because changing our perception changes our reality.
Being in touch with what you stand for and getting to know your reality through the lens of perception is important. A lot of times, we take this for granted. Since our perception shapes our individual reality, we need to be mindful and cultivate the habit of being aware of how and why we perceive things.
We’ve all heard the phrase “they woke up on the wrong side of the bed”.
Maybe you wake up and the weather is dreary with a lot of gray skies and rain. Then you perceive, in that instant, that this is going to be a terrible day. Immediately you get images of trudging to work through the puddles, your commute being delayed by the weather, and all the other negative impacts of the weather. Before the day has even started, you already have a negative perception of the entire day.
What difference could it make in our lives if, instead of anticipating all of the negatives of a gray day, we changed our perception? You wake up and it’s pouring outside like cats and dogs. Maybe you sip on a warm cup of coffee and admire the beauty of nature, its cleansing properties and listen to the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the windows.
You get into a place of serenity and appreciate nature.
Our perception has the ability to influence our day in a positive way. We have this in our power. If we cultivate the habit of doing this in every area of our lives. The fact of the matter is, the only thing we have true control over is how we choose to see things.
When we start to change our thoughts, we change our realities. Every word that we think or speak has an effect on our bodies. This has been studied and proven scientifically. It’s an established fact that when you change your perception and your thoughts, you change your physiology.
Create Your Own Reality
Once we take control of our perception, we can start to create our own realities and the sky’s the limit. This comes with one caveat. It’s not easy. We have to put forth effort in visualizing how we want our day to be. We have to get into the habit of being aware of how we are perceiving our lives in the moment. Journaling can help with this. Taking the time to imagine how you want your day to be and writing about it helps us to integrate that feeling into our subconscious mind.
Think about then write down the answers to these questions:
- What do you want your day to be like?
- What thoughts do you want to think throughout the day?
- How do you want to feel?
- What kind of mindset do you want to have today?
Write it out and then keep visualizing it. Every time we do that, our subconscious brain doesn’t realize that it’s not reality. It’s just registering how we feel right here and now. So if we keep on visualizing what we want to experience and feel, it helps shift our perceptions and physiology so that we experience our life in a very different way.
A client of mine was sharing with me about how her value and belief system has changed over the years. Changing her belief system was a conscious decision that took effort and discipline on her part. It was hard for her to let go of her old way of thinking because it had become part of her identity. This comes up for a lot of my clients because for so many people, figuring out what you stand for and then pursuing that doesn’t come naturally.
Take the time to change your perception today and figure out what you stand for right now. This will help boost your confidence, focus on your goals and even change your demeanor into a more positive one. You’ll know very clearly how you can shift your perspective to enhance your positive attributes.
Be the Master of Your Moods
Don’t let your day be driven by a negative feeling. Be the master of your own moods. Take a deep breath in, do your meditation, and focus on something good. Use positive mantras or listen to a beautiful piece of music. Do something that inspires you. Whatever it is, don’t let a fleeting negative emotion impact your entire day. That doesn’t mean you don’t have to feel the things that come up. It just means that you feel the emotion and move through it so you don’t get stuck in it and let it ruin your entire day.
Practice Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the most important things we can practice. It improves our attitudes and outlook on life. By being thankful for what we have, we start to see our lives in a different way. Not only does practicing gratitude improve our own lives but it also improves the lives of the people we interact with.
Focus On Yourself First
We all want to change the world but we have to focus on changing ourselves first. Yes, we can come together to change the world but it starts with changing ourselves into a more positive, grateful, compassionate, and peaceful person. By focusing on ourselves first, we can actually become a change agent to help change the world into a better place.
What Do You Stand For?
By taking the time to figure out what you stand for, you will have more clarity on how you want to feel, what you want to focus on, and the goals you want to achieve. What are you taking a stand for right now in your life? What is working for you? What are you content with? What are you not willing to put up with anymore? Take some time to reevaluate this and start to see what your perceptions are and what you really want to stand for in the future.
Ask for Help
Changing our perceptions and mastering our moods requires a shift in our entire way of thinking and that doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes, it helps to have a mentor, coach, friend or loved one to lean on to talk things through with. Forging ahead on your own can sometimes mean the journey takes longer than it would if you had some help.
If you would like any assistance on your journey to understanding exactly what you stand for and creating your reality around that, click here. There are private and group coaching programs available that can help you accelerate your growth and help you through this time of transition.
Is my perspective my reality?
No, your perspective is your perception of the reality that you live. Your experience in life shapes your perspective which becomes your perception. It’s not set in stone and can change over time.
Perception is a way of looking at or understanding things, based on one’s own ideas or opinions rather than actual facts:
- your personal views as to what is true or real
- your sense of what someone or something is like, especially as formed by personal experience rather than through any kind of scientific study
People believe that your perspective is your reality because it’s their perception but it isn’t.
Humans are highly suggestible and can be easily manipulated which makes them see a different perspective as being their reality. This happens because people are influenced by their society and environment until it becomes part of them, they internalise these messages and in a sense believe that they’re their own.
You can change your perspective but first you have to realise that your perception is not necessarily the absolute truth. Your perspective can be changed depending on how you choose to look at things, how you choose to react and what information you expose yourself to. By becoming aware of your perspective and actively deciding to look at the world differently, you can change your perception and in effect change your reality.
There is a quote that I really love which goes like this: “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.”
– Bruce Lee
Do we control our perception?
Human beings are essentially perceiving control systems that take action in order to keep our perceptions of the world within acceptable limits. We act in a manner to maintain the world’s perceptions of us within acceptable boundaries. If humans fall and hurt themselves, they will do everything possible to get back up on their feet.
People are in perpetual survival mode, attempting to maintain an existence that is in harmony and balance. Our perception of the world has stayed relatively the same since we first imprinted on it as infants but it’s not necessarily a fixed perspective. Your perspective can change and develop over time depending on what you experience and expose yourself to.
Can your perception be wrong?
The truth is most people’s perceptions of things are completely wrong. People generally don’t have enough information to accurately perceive a situation, they’ve never been taught how to look at the world in a critical manner so their perception of it is usually flawed. Perception is flawed, reality doesn’t change and people believe that things are worse than they truly are. Our perception of reality can be wrong because as humans we’re not able to process all the information that’s around us so we’re left with only a small fraction of it. We make assumptions and have preconceptions that alter our reality, in essence, we create illusions within ourselves that are not based on fact but rather what we want them to be.
I used to believe that my perspective was my reality until I found out that it wasn’t. I used to think that things were a certain way based on my perception of them, but then I found out that they’re actually not like that at all. If your perspective is always your reality, how can you know what’s really true?
Dr. Asha Prasad
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