YOUR PERCEPTION: The Lenses You Use To Color Your World

By: Nougye Mutungi Mukoma

I once read a quote that sent me into a state of deep realization. The quote goes, “A different version of you exists in the minds of everyone who knows you.” If you think about it, this is completely true. No two people will describe you the same way. Everyone will have a slightly different image of who you are.

This is what led me to dive deeper into this wonderful concept of “perception.” I am sure you have used this word many times. But have you explored it to its depth?

Let me ask you… what is this perception? If you think about it, it’s a pretty big word that plays a pretty big role in your life. It defines how you view everything in life, be it a person, situation, thing, or experience.

Also, what’s interesting about perception is that it is unique to every person. Everyone experiences the world through their collection of experiences. In other words, we can say that no two people experience the world the same way.

Building Perception - Brick By Brick

So, now you might be wondering… how does your perception get built in the first place? Well, it starts the moment you are born. Your very body is made up of DNA that carries the memories and experiences of the generations that came before you. And then, once you’re born, you start gathering a world of information from your surroundings.

This instrument, or let’s say your body, is an amazing material intelligence that helps you carry your mind that is experiencing every moment of your life. This mind of yours uses the various senses such as sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste to move through this world. It even uses sense that you might not be aware of!

In addition to all of this, you also use your mental faculties to function in this world. For example, you use your learned intelligence that comes from the learnings from your family and environment. You also use your memory, will, reasoning, and intuition. That’s a lot of information for you to take in.

When all is said and done, this information becomes your internal mindset by becoming beliefs that you view your world through. In other words, your perception gets moulded just as you would mould clay into a particular shape.

Now, I didn’t get into emotional processing through thoughts, habits, character, and values, but all of this also comes into play as to how you see and interact with everything and everyone.

In my younger years, I never understood perception and mindset. But what I can now tell you from experience is that it is SUPER IMPORTANT to understand the magnificent and powerful way that your mind takes in information and defines what you understand.

After all, everything you gather as information becomes the sunglasses through which you see this world. Your beliefs become your mindset. MIND-is-SET.

Reshaping Your Perceptions

The next question you might have is - how do you change your perception for the better? Well, one thing you can do is to remember how your mind got set in the first place. And at the same time, you also need to work on changing the information that you’re most exposed to.

This is where positive affirmations come into play. Positive affirmations are short, positive statements that you keep repeating to yourself throughout the day. These act like “mantras” to rewire your mind and slowly erase your old and limiting beliefs. Of course, the old beliefs don’t go away as they lurk somewhere in the background waiting for your point of weakness to rear its ugly head.

But if you have strong WILL, and apply repetition, you can surely overcome those old beliefs. Sometimes, you may hear of “self-sabotage” where people fall back into their old routines, habits, and beliefs, but that is a topic for another time.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, perception is an extremely important concept to understand. That’s because, when you understand it, you can change how you look at situations. You can also start developing the habit of getting more information before your mind is SET. Maybe, you can call this free will!

I would recommend you read this blog post a few times to really let it sink in. After all, repetition is the best way to learn.

I share this information to provide insights that will allow you to live a more meaningful and fulfilled life.

Blessings,

Nougye.