Perception is Our Reality

Our perception is OUR reality.  What we think guides us through our day and make up who we are and what we do.  Is your glass half full or is it half empty.  This has come up for me, again, over the last couple of weeks so it is time to take a look at it.  While that is true, we are often affected by someone else’s reality.  How do we respond to others that have a completely different point of view?  What actions do we take when someone is totally outside our own personal reality? 

Do we let it beat us down?  Do we try to change to fit into their reality so we can gain their approval? Or the opposite Do we just dismiss their perception, put up our defenses and respond with knee jerk reactions? Weeks ago, I mentioned the Healthy Recipe for the S.O.U.L Designer Diet.  Slice of UR Life.  That is the approach I am taking to change many things in my life. 

One category that I am focusing on this week, is Relationships. Not just our core relationships, but my relationship with co-workers, bosses, online friends, and my relationship with food and exercise.

Habit #5 of Steven Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people is: 
Seek to Understand, then to be UNDERSTOOD.  I feel our perception, our reality, in relationships, often starts the other way around.  Trying to be understood, get aligned with people who come from the same point of view, then MAYBE, we will try to understand them. (or it).   Our reality is based on pre-conceived notions, judgments, and opinions. 

I dislike having to admit the judgments I have.  I think of myself as a pretty open minded person.  With that said, I had a huge light bulb moment yesterday.  The lights went on, the fireworks exploded, and once again, my perceptions were blown out of the water.  I have, in the past, typically dismissed what fitness buffs have to say.  They just don’t understand me and my dilemma.  You can’t get this body to do THAT!. Oh, I read their stuff and LONG to be able to think of exercise as fun.  But you don’t understand.  I don’t have the time, my body doesn’t cooperate, you can do all that because your THIN!  I am already devoting so much of my time, tracking my food, counting my points, writing my blog, having a full time job, being a Mom,  and you expect me to contort my body, run marathons, lift weights, go to the gym, and keep all my relationships still functioning?  Are you insane? 

So what changed?  I really listened yesterday.  I listened to the video blog of MizFit. I went to her blog to read the post Wii, Your Shape, and MizFit.  The link took me to her video of how she lives a healthy lifestyle.
The lightbulb moment came when she said she had a four year old and that some days she only exercises for 10 minutes.  It reminded me that I am trying to change to a healthy lifestyle and my word of the year: I live.

That is what I am doing.  I am learning to live differently.  It opened my eyes to all those things in my life that Ihave become excuses instead of just my reality. I have honestly not tried to understand what thin people do. My bad!  And as I have always believed, if you seek to understand, the teacher will appear.

Oh, and one more thing – Today’s picture:  Did you see a young girl or an old woman?  What is your reality today!  .