“The way in which you perceive the other is determined by your own thought forms.” ~ Eckhart Tolle
Sometimes in life we have perceptions that we truly believe are true. But are they always? Is the person you are mad at today really at fault and are they who you think they are? Do you know all the facts? So many times we rush to conclusion about someone, convincing ourselves that what we believe is true when in fact it simply isn’t.
Why be so quick to judge when all we need to do is deeply listen to what they are saying. In listening maybe we would realize that our perception is wrong and give the other person a chance. This would be so much better than the stories we make up in our head.
When we have persuaded ourselves that our perception about another person is correct we end up saying words that can never be taken back. We make decisions that might change not only the individual’s life, but our life and those who are close to us.
The times we are living in now are full of much anger and unhappiness. We need to find a way around all of that and learn to become more compassionate and accepting. We need each other in order to survive, and maybe starting with our perceptions is a good beginning.
“When we meditate on our perceptions, the Buddha observed, the person who suffers most in this world is the person with many wrong perceptions…. And most of our perceptions are erroneous. We see a snake in the dark and we panic, but when our friend shines a light on it, we see that it is only a rope. We have to know which wrong perceptions cause us to suffer.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Life as a Garden 
How many snakes have I tripped over in the dark 🙂
Great post Michele 🙂
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I hear you, Mark, I have too. It’s that old ego always making waves where there should be calm water. 🙂
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wonderful reminder
to always ask,
“am i sure?” 🙂
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Hi, David 🙂 That’s right, always ask “am I sure.” People get hurt when we are not careful and don’t think to ask ourselves that simple question.
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An excellent and thought provoking
piece of writing.
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Thank you Alan. It’s something we are all guilty of at one time or another. The important thing is to try and become more mindful of it and then learn to listen deeply.
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I agree. We always know when we are offended but we are out to lunch when we offend.
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So true, Kendall. We all just need to be more mindful.
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I agree!
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Thank you for the reminder. We can fix many faults of this world if we start from ourselves.
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So true, Inese 🙂
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Yes this is a very great reminder. I am guilty of this. I over think. I form something in my head. And that is my perception of the situation and it does not mean it is always true. Thank you for this!
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I think we all do this from time to time. I’m trying to be better at not always over thinking too.
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Reblogged this on K.Lazaro and commented:
A great reminder posted by Michele Anderson.
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Thank you, Khris, for the reblog 🙂
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Thank you for sharing with us!
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Very good, Khris.
Bless those who shed the light, and woe to those who keep us in the dark.
-Alan
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Just fully realized that my sister has lived with WRONG perceptions of our whole life! I had this wonderful childhood and she did not. We were treated the same as we are only 15 months apart but born with totally different personalities and love languages. In our biggest argument, just months ago and we are 46 and 45 yo, I learned she is holding things against me when I was about 2 or 3 and another when I was 7. I was baffled. She wants me to change some things about me now but I am realizing that this particular issue is surface level junk and the root of the problem is the wrong perception she has towards me. I can’t tell her this because, well that wouldn’t go over well at all so I have to keep praying and believe God will reveal the truth to her about her childhood when she is ready to listen. Until then, well we really aren’t speaking. I never thought we would be in this place.
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Nice to meet you, Kristi 🙂 That’s a shame about your sister, but you’re not alone on this. I have a daughter about your age that hasn’t spoken to me or her sister going on 4 years, and all of this is from wrong perceptions of what she thinks is the truth. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done about this unless the person is willing to do some type of counseling. I think it was Eckhart Tolle that said: “You can’t have a conversation with an unconscious person.” The sad part is that life is just too short to be unconscious.
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