Everything we do is a matter of perception. It all depends on how we see things, how we perceive them.
Is it good or bad? Big or small? Safe or dangerous? Comfortable or uncomfortable? This is all done through our senses of the real world around us — our perception.
I marvel at the fact that the thing that controls all this is a squishy organ, trapped in a box, blind and hidden from the world, relying on electrical signals from various sensors to tell it what reality is.
This squishy organ, forever in darkness, is our black box. Both in the sense that it is literally in darkness, and in the sense that it records everything you do (although we can’t access all it records). Our sense of reality comes only through our nervous system, from receptors that are constantly distorted, tricked and only give a representation of reality.
Our senses — what we see, hear, feel, smell, taste — literally give us our “sense” of reality.
This has lead us to say things like “There are as many realities are there are humans”. For everyone’s perceived reality is their reality, although they are just representations of reality.
What one calls blue may in fact be what another would perceive as orange. Yet we have learned to call blue, blue and orange, orange. Communication would otherwise be impossible.
There is one logical observation that follows. Our senses are not perfect. They can be deceived or be faulty. Take for instance this famous experiment. If you have 3 buckets of water. One with cold water, one with hot water, and one with an equal mix of both. If you put one hand in the cold water and the other in the hot water, for a couple seconds, and then, put both hand in the mixed water at the same time you will not feel the same temperature on each hand, although the water is the same temperature. You perceive a difference when there is none.
We have all experiences optical elusions. Have a look at the following image. Is the man looking at you or to the right?
Can we not trust our senses? Is there no way to see reality for what it really is?
How would you feel if you were trapped in a room and everything you were told about reality came from exterior sources. Right now your probably telling yourself you would feel bad or that you wouldn’t accept it. But if that were all you knew you would assume everything was true. That is exactly how we behave in regards to our senses. We assume they are telling the truth. But as we’ve seen, it can be a distorted truth, and have multiple facets.
We have an expression that illustrates how heavily we depend on our senses. You have probably also used it many times, as I know I certainly have: “I’ll believe it when I see it.” “I have to see it with my own eyes, to believe it.”
Yet magicians are known to exploit this to their advantage. Using misdirection. Making a big move to cover a small one. Telling you to look here, when the “magic” is happening there.
One must keep in mind that our senses are all we have to get a sense of reality. We must do with what we have. If you start cursing all you have, you don’t have much left.
Your senses are your only way of assessing the world. One must also keep in mind that what we perceive is not always how things are.
If someone speaks a little harshly to you, do not take it personally, it is much more likely that you don’t perceive everything that is going on. You don’t have the full picture. It is impossible to have the whole picture. It would be too much information for you to handle at once. This person may simply have had a bad experience just before speaking with you.
Everything is perception. No thing or action is inherently good or bad, we are the ones who decide and perceive it to be so. Death can be seen as a curse and something to be afraid of. Or, it can be seen as a natural step in the cycle of life. You can even look forward to death. It is only a matter of how you perceive a thing to be.
It has been wisely said that “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”.
What has helped me best, is recognising that we aren’t perfect and that we are prone to making errors. If I feel bad about something or am angry, I gently remind myself that it’s all a matter of perspective. I am in no way perfect, and I do not mean to say I don’t get angry or ever feel bad. Rather thinking in this way has helped me take things a little less seriously and enjoy things more.
I hope this has helped you in some way.