Perception is reality!

When does perception become reality?

Recently while shopping in a grocery store I received a call on my cellular phone.  The signal was cutting in and out and it was very difficult to hear and understand the caller.  On two separate occasions the call dropped.  When I tried to call back, the call would not go through. Frustrating, to say the least.  And I certainly did not want anyone to get the impression I was not interested in the conversation.

Imagine you were aware of the phone call going on, but not paying full attention to the conversation.  Would you perceive the situation as an issue of poor signal?  Or - would you perceive the issue as one person rudely hanging up on the other?

Most times, what we experience with our senses is reality. However - are there ever times when our experience does not accurately reflect reality?  Of course!  Think of times when we believe we're in a certain reality, but the actual situation is not truly real.  Optical illusions are the one thing that immediately comes to mind - those situations when our mind "sees" something but what we're looking at is not a true representation of what is actually there.

Most of us have had those difficult discussions  - when the person we're communicating with believes a situation is they way they perceive when in reality they are misperceiving the situation.  Inevitably, the question is - is perception reality?  Or - more accurate - is "mis"perception reality?

In most intances the misperception can be easily resolved with a reasoned discussion, and there is no harm resulting from the misperception.  However - what about those times when the misperception causes innapropriate consequences or unjustified conflict?  History repeatedly shows misperception causes conflict - where thousands lose their lives!  And countless personal relationships have been torn apart due to misperceptions!

Recognizing and correcting misperceptions requires an open mind and a willingness to accept that what one believes is true, might not be true.  Especially for the sake of our personal relationships, it's imperative we be willing to give the benefit of doubt.

I sincerely hope anyone following these writings has not misperceived that I am no longer interested in my blog.  Unfortunately, work has been rather busy and distracted me from updating more often.  I certainly am trying to reduce any work misperceptions about my willingness to go the extra mile!  Thanks for everyone's patience as I try to create a reasonable work-life balance.

Stay tuned - the best is yet to come!