Your Perception Will Shape Your Reality
The brain is a powerful organ that guides our experiences.
What we perceive, we often believe. What we believe, we deem as reality.
Do you have a clear understanding of yourself?
Who are you? What are you? Where are you? When are you?
Yes, an investigation is underway, with the subject being YOU. Hence, I am laying the who, what, where, and when foundation typical of any profound research.
But how do we know the correct answers to these deep philosophical questions we ask ourselves? And who determines what the correct answers are?
Can you be defined and summed up by mere words, a list of adjectives? Are you not more than the sum of who and what you have been taught to believe? Also, who taught you how and what to think?
See, I have done my self-evaluation and questioned what I deem to be my realities. I have even outrightly denied some of my discoveries. Other times I have stayed away from probing deeply within myself for fear of what I may find.
The fear of being uncomfortable is embarrassing, sometimes even excruciating.
Not to mention the fear of unraveling what I have already established as my reality. Many of us desire security and stability. Hence, tearing down what we have established as our realities can be an intimidating act.
We want to feel confident in who we are, what we got, and what we know to be accurate, and so on.
However, one thing is sure: we cannot escape or hide from ourselves. And it is when we are prepared to unearth, discover, and face our uncomfortable truths we are genuinely prepared to thrive.
Hence, getting honest with ourselves is the most authentic way to live. Even more, it is the only way to live. Anything less than and we merely exist, going through life with the motion.
We have different realities
Innately, we question who, what, and where we are. No two people will go through life and think the same thoughts simultaneously. We will not have the same encounters in life. Hence, our outcomes will vary.
And given the variations in our natural and nurturing environments, even if we are exposed to the same stimuli, we are still likely to end up with unique experiences.
We have different norms and cultures
We cannot deny the debate on nature and nurture. Both have their place in society. Indeed, we have a common denominator in being humankind. Still, our cultures and norms influence how we perceive ourselves and others around us.
Consequently, we experience life differently as we see things through different lenses. And while some facts about our lives may be identical, these facts may produce different stories depending on who the author is.
That is not to say that views and viewpoints are superior or inferior. Instead, it serves us well to acknowledge that our perception will create our realities; therefore, our realities are entirely in our hands to create.
The human experience is as unique and personalized as we each are, and from this uniqueness, we are at liberty to define our realities.
We can take complete control, full accountability, and full credit for creating the realities we want.
Refuse to become a victim but instead orchestrate your path
I would be naive if I stated that we all have access to the same resources. Indeed, there are privileges to which we all do not have equal access.
Unfair, you may think? We can form our individual opinions about that.
However, I truly want to focus on how we use what we have. With the resources we each have access to, how do we maximize our potential with what we have?
Do we consider someone enslaved when they are in chains or behind bars? What about the mental slavery and oppression of one’s mind, even though one’s hands and feet aren’t in shackles?
Living and thinking from a place of scarcity will create an experience of being a victim, while an abundant mindset sets you on a path to a different outcome.
Thoughts are potent nuggets that, when fed, become massive fuel that moves you. After all, Lao Tzu knew a thing about thoughts when they coined the below quote:
Become more self-aware
I am too familiar with the power of a thought to set my actions in motion. It is this self-awareness that I am using to guide me both in decision-making and creating the life experiences I desire to have.
Often whenever I feel sad and conflicted with my emotions, a simple activity of checking my thoughts and how I perceive others and the world around me often bring me to the core of my problem.
Granted, this is easier said than done. However, with practice, we can learn to catch ourselves, rewire our thought processes and take inventory of our moods and emotions.
When we become acutely aware of ourselves and our triggers, we can better self-regulate our emotions, responses, and the kind of energy we put into the universe.
Final Thought
Shaping your reality lies within the power of your mind. How you see yourself and others is all a part of this incredible life experience.
It is up to you to dismantle perceptions and get uncomfortable with anything less than authenticity.
When you seek realness, you can handle what you discover with a clear conscience that you did it your way by seeking truth.
Whom do you perceive yourself to be? What is your reality?
Dare to shape your destiny.