How we experience life is significantly impacted by our perceptions and this perception is what makes some people see the glass as half-empty while others perceive it to be half-full. According to a relationship life coach, and psychologist, Linda Humphreys, the experience we have in our reality is influenced, shaped, and molded by our perception. Most of the time, our perception isn’t usually the fact, even though it can feel very real. However, these perceptions are powerful enough that we can use them to create our realities because we’re so convinced of their accuracy.
The beautiful thing about the perception power is that the power is right in your hands and another advantage is that you have the ability to decide how you see things and you can even change it. However, it takes effort to manage your perception. All-in-all, be aware that the decisions you make and the emotions you feel are influenced by how you perceive the world. Your perception is your reality.
The Good and the Ugly of Perception
Your life’s experience and your personal reality are significantly impacted and created by the perception you hold about others, life in general, your life, and how you see yourself. It’s important for you to know that all areas of our lives are massively influenced by our perceptions and this is one of the reasons why people are often encouraged to be “open-minded” or “perceptive” so that if they have a weakening perception, it will be easier for them to adjust, given how powerful our perceptions are.
There’s a high likelihood that you’ll enjoy a happier existence if you are positive about how you perceive things because your life’s experience and its quality are affected by your perceptions. Perceptions also cut across your relationships as well. For instance, you have a high likelihood of reacting in a victim-like, negative, combative, and defensive way if you hold the perception that people around you such as your siblings, your parents, your colleagues, and/or your boss are always against you.
To enjoy great levels of joy and inner peace, you need to perceive people positively. But on the other hand, you’re prone to feeling very agitated, and intensely unhappy if you perceive people negatively.
Do you know that a lot of people miss out on some valuable and gratifying things in life because they permit their previous negative experiences to let them misperceive certain situations? In the same manner, people may let fear make them perceive some things as bad, when these things aren’t actually bad. When fear is the bedrock of your perception, you’ll end up missing out on a lot of things because you’ll label them as dangerous but in reality, they aren’t dangerous.
Tips to Switch to a More Positive Perception of Life
- Take Personal Responsibility
For you to start seeing yourself, things, events, and people from a better perspective, you need to start taking responsibility. Taking responsibility is the first step to take towards switching to a more positive perception in life.
- Be Compassionate to Yourself and Others
We are living in a world that’s fast becoming a jungle. One attitude that’s swiftly becoming extinct is empathy. Many, in their struggle to become who they want to be, are becoming less empathetic and compassionate. They’re neither compassionate to themselves nor others. While this could be indeed saddening, it takes self-compassion and compassion towards others to become more positively perceptive. When you’re easy and gentle with yourself, it will become easier for you to view the world from a better angle. Your attitude can even rub off on others and encourage them to grow. So, perhaps is time to making some changes about your perception. This is a process that I have been undertaking for the last couple of years, not easy but rewarding.
- Be willing to see Things Differently
Many people will be quick to utter the words “I am open to change” but the truth of the matter is that a lot of them aren’t actually prepared to change. It takes the willingness to change and it is this willingness that propels you to become more committed to making changes. Before we can learn and create new perceptions, we must be willing and ready.
- Activate your Pause Button When Triggered
It’s advisable that you learn to respond from a more empowered place anytime a situation, something, or someone triggers you. I am working on this myself, so I know it can be a challenge. So, how do you respond? When these triggers happen, stay in the moment, and take some seconds to breathe. It’s more like hitting a pause to find your calm in the storm. When issues happen, you don’t even have to respond immediately right on the spot, don’t be shy to say that you need time to process things. Giving yourself a time out also works if you feel you cannot make a shift with just a few deep breaths.
- Enlist Support
Most of the time, many of us find it very hard to see how we’ve colored our perceptions and we can’t see these blind spots because we’re so used to seeing things in a particular way. (Hey, maybe hire a coach!) This can help to reduce the number of mistakes you make with your perceptions and improve your perceptions, have a discussion with someone who shares a different perception compared to yours. A conversation with a family member or a friend you trust who can as well be honest can also do justice in helping you see things clearly.
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