The Tribune

Many people say that perception is 99 per cent of reality. If you think this is true then what you call reality only amounts to a measly one per cent. For this reason, people live according to their perceptions not their so-called reality. Better said, for all intent and purposes there’s really no reality, only your perception of reality.

The challenge is that everyone’s perception is based on a wide scope of factors. Most of which have never been explored and or clarified.

More importantly, if your perception is in fact 99 per cent of your reality, shouldn’t you take time to know what makes up your perception? Regrettably, a vast number of folks don’t do it. They have no idea of the ingredients that create their perceptions. Many erroneously believe that perception is a group concept. When in truth we each wear our own glasses of perception; seeing the world according to our personal viewpoint.

Of course the group mentality is made up of individuals who share similar perceptions and or points of view. However, even in the group ideology, each individual within the group still has his or her own lens of perception, which they can alter at any time. Hence, you see people leaving one group and joining another, or even going solo.

It is when you change your perception that your reality begins to change. The lens of your perceptions is made up of a myriad of factors. From the time you were a child, through your teenage years and onto adulthood.

Your lenses are influenced by many factors, often stemming from your early years, such as the home and school environments; things people said and the way others treated you become chief ingredients in your perception. All these factors shaped the way you learn to see yourself.

An unhappy, difficult childhood experience often produces a mangled, “I am not good enough” self-perception. And the way you see yourself becomes the way you see the world. As such, we see the world not as it is but as we are. Even so, you are always in the position to change the way you see the world by changing the way you see yourself. You alone have full authority to cleanse the lens of your perception at any time. The lens of your perception is developed from within. It is also the result of all the information that you have and continue to take in consistently. Positive or negative, information you absorb formulates your thinking and motivates your behaviour.

You must take time to unravel not only what makes up your perception, but also what or who influences you most. In today’s world, media has become the leading medium for creating and shaping perceptions. The world over, media plays a critical role in the dissemination of information. Depending on language quality, sensationalism, innuendos and overtones used in the broadcast and or reporting of so-called news stories, people’s perceptions are formulated.

Without critical thinking and the capacity to challenge media assumptions, you fall prey to believing everything you hear or read. Leader to leader, take control over what you accept and allow into your psyche and mind space.

Find the audacity to be more discriminate in your information intake in order to clarify your perception. The clearer your perception the more optimistic you become. The more muddled your perception, the more pessimistic you become.

Get to a positive place. It takes a positive self-perception to live an empowered life. You can do it!

What do you think? Please send your comments to coaching242@yahoo.com or 429-6770.

• Michelle M Miller is a certified life coach, communication and leadership expert. Call 429-6770 or visit www.michellemmiller.com; mail can be sent to PO Box CB-13060.