Definition
What is perception?
Perception is the process of perceiving something with the senses. Throughout our adventure in life, perceptions are formed and changed based on new information and experiences.
My Experience
When I reflect on how my own perceptions have changed over the years – The first thought that comes to mind is that I wasted a lot of time seeing things in a negative light.
I don’t remember the exact point in time that I came to the realization that thinking negative constantly was weighing me down. I also don’t think I just woke up one day and had a eureka moment.
It seems to have slowly dawned on me through continued negative consequences of my persistent negative thinking.
If you haven’t heard or realized yet – We are all hardwired with a bias towards negativity. It’s only through continuous thought conditioning and practice that we can shake off this primal instinct.
Personally, I don’t think I ever would have been able to achieve anything if I hadn’t let go of my pessimistic thinking. Not that I will ever shake it completely… But I do notice that through my practice, I have gotten better about being biased about perceiving things in a positive light.
This can be troublesome too; we need balance in everything. If we think too positively, we might miss opportunities for problem solving, or take too long to realize something isn’t working.
How can we strike a balance?
Everyone is wired differently; I don’t believe there’s a one-size-fits-all approach to anything. All I can say is what has worked for me personally. Take it with a grain of salt and find what works best for you. Only you know yourself better than anyone else.
For me, I am a junkie for practicing reflection and introspection – I’ll dive into those a bit deeper in another post.
Perception is personal, we all own our perception of every situation. Our prior experiences and life journey shape our perceptions of everything.
So how can we become intentional about how we perceive situations and grow our perception?
Here’s my take on that question:
- We can question our perceptions regularly.
- We can ask others to share their perceptions.
- We can try to flip the script – If we are perceiving something one way, we can ask – “But what if I have it backwards?” and think through what that means.
*All three of these combined can help us grow our perception and decide which perception is what we believe instead of automatically going with our first thoughts.
Closing
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I love quotes that make me think. Here’s a few that get me excited about increasing my perception.
“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.”
– Aldous Huxley
“Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.”
– Jon Bon Jovi
Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe below if you want to be notified of our next post.
Perceptive Zeal 
Leave a comment