The word of the day for 2 October is: Perception.
‘Perception’ is defined as the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted. When you perceive something, you see, hear, or become aware of it through your senses.
Buddha said, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought; what we think, we become.”
People are always told to look on the bright side, see the silver lining, or be positive; and oftentimes that becomes tedious – a cliché – but in reality, there could not be better advice. Our negative emotions and low self-esteem eventually rub off onto those around us. The way we feel about ourselves will ultimately become how people feel about us, because that is the message we are putting out into the world.
Just like the phrase ‘you are what you eat,’ you are what you think. If you only eat fatty foods, you will put on weight – if you only express negative emotion, your life will become negative. It is a snowball effect: you tell yourself you are not good enough; you start to believe it; it reflects in your personal and work lives, and eventually, people around you will believe it too.
Imagine what could happen if we fed our minds with positivity instead of judgement. You tell yourself you’re good enough and you can succeed; your confidence increases; your motivation and work ethic increases; and then you land up achieving things you never thought possible because instead of trying to convince yourself you can’t, you convince yourself that you can.
Change the way you see things, change the way you see yourself, change your perception.
