When two people with contrasting perceptions are put under the same roof, there is bound to be disturbance and alterations in the vibrations. I have been feeling the same in the past month. I have started to believe that everything happens for a reason. I'm now questioning how I can prevent myself from getting triggered in such situations. Do I have to raise my tolerance and patience levels? Do I have to be indifferent and turn my back without sharing my thoughts? Do I need to accept the situation wholeheartedly without trying to change it?
As I pondered more on these questions, I started receiving this answer - "It's all about how we perceive".
My perception of health might be different from someone else's. My perception of cleanliness might be different from someone else's.
I might find someone's ideologies on food to be extreme. Someone else might find my ideologies on food to be on the extreme.
My understanding of taking care of my health - eating more vegetables, regular Yoga, good sleep, etc. Someone else's understanding of taking care of their health - eating medicines on time, going for frequent health checkups, being on top of the health parameters, etc.
Perception isn't just a binary variable - where a certain belief is true or not for an individual. There are various levels of perception from which we choose to pick the ones that appeal most to our reasoning. Once we choose a certain level and adopt it as our perceived truth, it is hard to change ourselves, unless we voluntarily seek new information to prove ourselves wrong.
Our perceptions get formed through various channels -
- Conscious information seeking
- Subconscious programming done by media/news/books/videos
- Our own logical, evidence-based reasoning
- Learnings or observations from people whom we respect/admire and society at large
- Influence of childhood, environment and of course our parents
Blind acceptance of the situation doesn't come to me easily. I realized that I need to question myself and understand the reasoning before I accept a given situation. Once the reason is clear to me, I find it much easier to adapt to the given situation.
As I gathered this understanding of perception (through self-introspection, random events, and conversations), I'd say I'm much more at peace now. This process of questioning, exploration, connecting the dots, and stumbling upon random insights seem to be so energizing and eye-opening.