Our Perceptions and Their All-Encompassing Influence on Our Lives
Our Perceptions and Their All-Encompassing Influence on Our Lives
Perception: It defines us. It can open up the doors to our unlimited potential or it can keep us from doing everything we dream of. We each have our own unique perception of the world. Our friends and family, the media, television, movies, books, our experiences and society all immensely influence our perception. Some of these points of view are bound to be errored, because they came from humans, and humans have a tendency to make errors, due to our tendency to seek out short term reward, and our tunnel vision. What if I told you all of your limits, and our species' limits are self-imposed? It's true. Our biggest enemy is often ourselves. We down talk ourselves, tell ourselves our dreams are unrealistic, we can't do it, it's too hard, etc... But that's all melarkey! Once we make up our minds about something, whether it's "I can't do it" or "I will do it," the outcome tends to resemble our inner voice, our cognitive framing. I have noticed in my own life any failure to realizing a hope or dream I have had has been preceded by a negative inner voice, and any success has followed an inner pep talk. That's literally all we have to do: Make up our minds, take logical steps towards our goal, and it will manifest. "If there's a will, there's a way."
Societal Perception and the Tragedy of Its Blocks
Society has programmed us to defeat ourselves when we have a great idea or a personal goal. I can't help but think of the guidance counselor at my high school. Everyone had such beautiful dreams of what and who they wanted to be, and she told practically each one of us that it was unrealistic, there just wasn't a demand for our passion. There is actually a deep demand for it: our own souls, our own voices! That is the key to finding meaning in life: to follow our passions, and indulge in our curiosities, never squashing them. Sadly, many of us who had our dreams crushed as children in our guidance counselor's office, or by other, often well meaning adults, lost that sense of curiosity and passion, in exchange for careers, jobs, and the empty, endless pursuit of money. It killed us. That passion, that flame, was our soul. No amount of money can pay for the time you spend pursuing your passions and curiosities. It should be our primary motives for living. Imagine what would happen if the only people working in every field were those who were extremely passionate about doing that particular thing, developing new discoveries, and who were excited to do their jobs every day... We would have experts in every field, and technology would develop at an insane rate. Letting Go of Unhealthy Self Perceptions
Others in our environment have a major influence on our perception, but when it comes down to it, all of our limits are self imposed. To let go of all of this negative self talk, one must first let go of Ego. Ego is that part inside of us hoping for a compliment, looking for praise, adoration, and affirmation from those people around us, especially those who mean the most to us. Their perception of you is often flawed and skewed by their own egos, societal norms, and flawed perception. The only person who can actually see you correctly, is yourself, but only if you are completely honest with yourself. Sometimes honesty with yourself involves some painful inner work, but it's absolutely essential to a healthy mentality. This can mean years of introspection, but you will finally find inner peace, no matter what ails you. A journal can be helpful, though I personally prefer to work within my own head. Any drama or inner turmoil is shouting to you that there are things you need to work through inside, or outside. Once everyone works through their inner turmoil, the outer turmoil will resolve easily and effortlessly, because that is the purpose of conflict: resolution. Resolution requires two people who have let go of ego, love themselves and each other unconditionally (the only real love), are willing to admit mistakes and work on/through them. It's also important to realize that most of the human race is operating by mimicry on autopilot, oblivious to any errs in their ways. There is a "social norm", but it isn't generally the right way to do things, as it developed in a mob environment, from people who had much less information to understand life, psychology and the world around them. Think of bullying... It was commonplace in my childhood and adults rarely did anything about it, because in their childhoods it was even more commonplace. It is the behavior of wild animals in a pack trying to determine who is the best, who deserves to lead... We should have evolved past this limiting perception centuries ago, but that whole domination mentality has been reenforced and rewarded with our current way of operating in the world, which in all truth is not the ideal way, nor the moral way. Dominance has created the ego. Ego is essential, but an inflated ego, deflated ego, or rotating ego are perversions of what it should be: just an accurate perception of self. The Perversion of Our World Through Ego and Dominance One could argue that this dominance based mindset is responsible for all of our current world problems. Let's imagine where it could have originated... Back in the days of hunter-gathering, humans had to defend themselves from all sorts of large predators. They were always in "fight or flight" mode, constantly on guard. Their life expectancy was short, so they always sought out short term reward. As a result, rape, murder, war, destruction, violence, and dominance were commonplace, as it got them what they wanted immediately. Later on it developed into feudalism. Organized religion developed to dominate the masses and keep them in line. Monarchy came about, as feudal leaders fought for dominance of more and more land. Hoarding was the way to be on top, so it was ingrained into everyone. People worked for the king, gave him a share of their things for his protection, as outside of the walls, people lived in chaos, taking what they wanted. Knowledge was hoarded, as knowledge would likely lead to the people revolting and realizing they are being unfairly treated as cattle. Next came empires, countries, governments, armies, wars, the monetary system, all keeping with the same sort of structure. This resulted in increasing corruption and power amongst the elite, which resulted in the environmental destruction and wasteful culture we have today. Always a small group of people on top, dominating many people who are deprived of their needs and their comfort. Now imagine if from the beginning, all were treated as equals. There was no dominance. People were considered equal, and decisions were made democratically, and by informed people. Ideas flowed freely. The only fighting was in defense of outside, warlike forces. (Though likely a people such as this in the past would not have even imagined people who could do such a thing to others, and were wiped out.) Everyone had clean food, water and environment. People worked towards their curiosities and passions endlessly, had help from others and shared with others. There was no violence, no crime, because everyone was happy and had all of their needs satisfied. People knew themselves, and were not bound by others downtalking them, bullying them, hurting them, as no one would ever do such a thing to another. We would already be a society spread throughout the universe, colonizing other planets, and showing them this way of life, as they could potentially help us achieve ultimate knowledge faster. We can create this world now. Every single person on earth will be fulfilled, happy and complete. All we have to do is make up our minds.
Step one: Inner work. Step two: Help others do the inner work. Step three: Spread this message passionately, in my words or your own Step four: Live this way yourself. Use your money to become sustainable and make more money to help others become sustainable.
Any questions, comments, or thoughts on my ponderings? Feel free to start a respectful discussion in the comment section. Don't forget to give us a like on Facebook, share with your friends on any media site, and link to this article anywhere else. I am always grateful to all who read my work. This is my passion and purpose: helping others and creating a beautiful world for my children, and posterity. Also, if anyone else shares this passion, I would love to collaborate and team up to promote our purpose. I am willing to feature your site on mine in exchange for the same or do hangouts videos and talks. This is my job now. :) I appreciate your time and support.
Infinite Love to All, -Serendellion
