Your Perception is Your Reality
85
"It's not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters".1 This is one of the most profound realities of living in today's world. Our actions and reactions define who we are and our choices determine our path.
Yogi Berra said it eloquently with his statement, "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there."
Consider your drive to work each day. Some drivers view their commute as a series of conflicts, the war on vehicles. If these other drivers would just get out of my way I could finally make some time. Our perception changes once we become the grandma or the truck driver. I don't have to imagine that driver, it's me. The grandma, not the truck driver. Or maybe I'm the grandma driving the truck.
I once heard someone say, "If all you can think about is the bumper of the car ahead of you that's probably where you'll end up." Over the years my daily commute grew from forty minutes originally, to an hour and a half due to increased traffic. I was spending over ten hours a week being annoyed at other drivers. What a waste of my waking hours!
Do you arrive at work all stressed out and frazzled from the commute? How could this stress be eliminated? Tomorrow the same people will be in their cars driving like zombies, talking on their cell phone or texting, not paying attention when the light turns green, changing lanes in front of you for no reason, and arriving at their jobs angry and wired up. But not you. You can choose to see things from a different perspective.
Start by turning off the radio and listening to an uplifting music CD, you know the kind, one that makes you sing along and feel happy. For birthdays request audio CDs from motivational speakers and began plugging these in during your drive.
Look for ways to increase your overall happiness through your own creative choices. By puting the commute in the background it allows time to focus on more productive things.
" Your mind is the most powerful tool in the universe."2 Many people hold on to the draining power of non belief rather than opening their minds to the possibilities. From the minds of the most successful come simple observations:
"We become what we think about."3
If we begin to see ourselves as happy and productive then we'll start to become happier and more productive. In a powerful video called "Discovering Your Human Potential" Dr. Bernie Siegel4 says it something like this, "If you wish to be more loveable, you must become more loveable." What does that mean? How do you become more loveable? It took me a while to figure that out and I still struggle with moments of unjustified anger and frustration.
The way I see things now is different than it once was. My perception has changed. When I experience someone who's having a bad day and taking it out on me, it helps to view others as myself, in an earlier phase, my not-so-nice phase. And I wonder, "What could be troubling this person today?" When you lie down at night and review the events of the day do you have regrets or are you pleased with the way you handled yourself?
Each morning when we wake we're faced with an important decision: Will we choose to be happy or will we choose not to be happy with whatever life gives us that day. It is a conscious choice whether we get "from the day" or just "get through the day"5 What will be your choice today?
motivation positive living
|
7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness: Power Ideas from America's Foremost Business Philosopher
Price: $7.61
List Price: $12.95 |
|
Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle
Price: $8.64
List Price: $15.00 |
|
The Art of Exceptional Living
Price: $12.17
List Price: $19.95 |
|
Lessons on Life: How to Live a Successful Life
Price: $17.98
|
- Try Nightingale Conant for motivational media items
Choose from great authors like Brian Tracy, Mark V. Hansen, Jack Canfield on various types of media. Great idea for Christmas Gifts.
- Website for Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher
"Jim Rohn is outstanding! He is among the most polished, professional speakers in America, with a message everyone should hear." Brian Tracy
From kirstenblog's Hub
- Big Anthony Robbins Fan
Motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins do more then just motivate, they inspire the self confidence needed to succeed. The Tony Robbins Wealth Mastery Seminar inspired me and this is my story.
1 Ed Foreman, How to Have a Goood Day Everyday
2Mark Victor Hansen Dare to Win
3 Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret
4 Bernie Siegel, M.D., Discovering Your Human Potential
5 Jim Rohn, How to Have Your Best Year Ever
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
How true. It's one of the few things we can truly control, our own mind. When we start to doubt and become cynical the doors to happiness close. You might guess I'm working on my self as I say this. I needed a good kick in the pants to get going today. Thanks for taking time to comment.
Yes, we can choose our own attitude! It was when I was driving long hours on highways through curving/rolling Tennesse behind slow moving vehicles that I learned to love classical music and the peace it brought me.
How strange that we didn't meet at a rest stop along the way. I spent many long hours on the KY-TN highway too! I would fly into Lexington, drive to Chattanooga then drive to Nashville for weekly bi-meetings. We saw much of the same beautiful scenery! Learning to sit back and relax is an acquired process. Guess that's part of the aging thing too. Patience.
More than once I sat in a traffic jam due to a terrible accident where it took hours to clear the road. Missed flights, meetings, etc.. Still came out ahead of whoever was in the accident.
Thanks for commenting on these thoughts.
Great advice. Life is so much nicer when we decide to just go with the flow.
Catherine, yes, going with the flow becomes easier when we reach a certain age where, hopefully, patience kicks in. We noticed this when we moved out to the country. People regard each other differently here, they wave to their neighbors and drive slower out of consideration to each other. What a pleasure that is, to enjoy rather than be aggravated. Thanks for your comment!
It's amazing how our perceptions change as we get older. Whenever someone asks me how am I doing, I always say greaaat. I read somewhere that if you say that, your release endorphins that actually make you feel that way, and it works. So no matter what is going on in my life that's the way I respond and that's the way that I feel. Very good hub.
fastfreta,
How true and so uplifting to hear. So is being around someone who's in a good mood. Thanks for mentioning the endorphins for a natural lift. Also for stopping in to comment. I like positive people who treat each day as a gift.
Excellent hub, brillant writing and very informative. I am a positive person by nature amd you have a gift of writing, keep up the good work with these lovely hubs.
Thank you Rebecca E. That is high praise coming from someone with your obvious talent! Much appreciated and encouraging. pc17
Very profound and well written hub! And, once we get this, we have to keep reminding ourselves of it over and over!
I am taking fastfreta's advice and saying, "I'm doing great" all the time - love it! lol!
Thank you kartika damon. You're absolutely right. I have to work on myself every day, all day. It's so easy to fall into non productive thought patterns. One of my mentors says to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. fastfreta has the secret though. I'm terrific too. lol!
What an inspiring way to look at things. And how self-centered we can become -- why is that driver in MY way, as though it is done deliberately. Yes, why not look at that commute time as a gift -- a time to enjoy, to think, to pass pleasantly. Thank you for showing us another way.
lmmartin, That's a good way to think of commute time: as a gift. Thanks for that insight. It does present a chunk of time where we're often alone and we can learn or ponder. Lots of time.
This is so fantastic, wow, wow, wow. I have to turn out onto one of the most dangerous crossing I have ever seen in the country. Every morning, even though the road is clear someone will inevitably come outta no where doing 70 in a fifty, even though they see me they insist for some reason on screeching up and honking for a prolonged period of time. Now, this is such hostile behavior. I don't ever get it. If I wasn't the suspecting driver that I am, if I was the elderly lady, it might not work out so well. Then they insist on getting the first opening and tearing around me. Mind you by this time I am up to speed. As they go around me I get to start my day with some very colorful comments, gestures and etc. Now, as they tear around me, roll their window down and yes, slow down to look at me and yell guess what happens. Yes, you guessed it, they have slowed someone behind them down, so now they have someone honking and yelling at them. I just naturally just smile and wave. Now, I only travel 1.5 miles before I turn off of this temper inducing road. But, I can say I witness this go on about 5 times in that short distance. Thanks for your uplifing take on a different attitude. I do hope some of the people who travel through Washoe Valley, NV read your hub. TY,TY!!!!!
Hello Crickette_w, I love the way you described your commute. The hostility is inexcusable! Where is the love? Aren't these folks our "neighbors" even as fellow commuters?
I heard a story at a seminar about the job applicant who was circling the multi-level parking garage, seeking a spot to park so he could make it to his interview on time. He drives round and round, tires squealing on the cement when he finally spots a place. From the opposite direction a car is approaching. The guy gasses the car and slides into the vacant spot ahead of the other driver and flips him off for good measure. Arriving just in the nick of time for his appointment, he enters the office suite only to meet his parking lot adversary who, you guessed it, happens to be the hiring manager he is supposed to meet.
Thanks for your great comments and descriptive tale. I wish you the best of luck on that dangerous stretch of road.
You're so very right. It's good to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand that they must be going through something bad to snap.
I once had a customer rip me to shreds on the phone, and make me feel so small, but I could tell she was elderly, upset and after she put the phone down, I realised she must have been in pain.
I was right, that poor lady was just so fed up with her world, that she just had to let it loose, and it just happened to be me. When she came in the showroom one day, we discovered we both loved dogs, and from then on we always talked about them and it cheered her up.
It is hard sometimes to look on the bright side of things especially when they keep going wrong, but I always find that humour gets us through. We always try to see a funny side to things and that helps.
Thanks for the lovely comments you wrote on my page.
Pastella 13, You have such a kind understanding of the human side of things. Thank you so much for sharing the story about your experience and how you managed to turn a situation around through empathy. I'm so blessed to have met you here on HubPages. Your comments are much appreciated.
cygnetbrown says:
3 months ago
I've always been a glass-half full kind of gal. I always try to remember, circumstances won't change until we change.