What is the True Difference Between Perception and Reality?
Have you ever had the experience of seeing Mr. Handsome at a party or event and being very interested. Perhaps you even felt that instant unseen energy of attraction. But then, just as you were about to approach him, he turned and looked at you with an icy stare. Whereupon your ego crumpled. Then what did you do?
You stop dead in your tracks, and make a beeline for the buffet instead. After that you feel uncomfortable. It’s the white outfit, which is way too girlish and naive. Perhaps you should have worn the V-cut black dress. Maybe yesterdays french-fries are showing all over your hips in this monstrous filmy thing. At the party, you don’t mingle much. You wait for the long, boring evening to end. Whereupon you trudge home, alone, to your empty apartment.
Now suppose you are on the other side and you are the male. Here’s what may be happening for you. You have just taken a sip of your cocktail, and it is sour as a green lemon. You purse your lips to try to keep from spitting it out. You are noticing nothing but the bad taste in your mouth- and you are thinking of how to get rid of it without drawing attention.
Now suppose you were Mr. Handsome in this scenario. If you were, the truth is you never even saw this woman . You were too busy with what to do about your drink. But later at the buffet you saw her and you wanted to approach. But she was too aloof. She had that look. And you thought, why ask for rejection? So you didn’t approach her.
I bet there have been times that you have been like this in your life. You have been 100% sure you knew the very thoughts in someone else’s head. And you have been 100% sure this was reality. And, like this story, I’m sure you missed out on something. Perhaps it was the soulmate of your dreams that you never even met.
And I would venture to say that this is how most of us do life. We go on our merry way, doing and not doing, based on what we think. And what we think is hugely colored by our judgments and assessment, beliefs and past. But we don’t think it is colored. We think we are seeing the world how it really is.
Imagine all of the missed opportunities in your life that you didn’t even know about.
Stay tuned to my articles as we explore the difference between perception and reality, and how you can get power in your life by setting your limiting beliefs and assumptions aside. The question will constantly be, “Do I really know what I think I know?” It is an engaging question, and one that can intrigue us forever with endless possibilities.
