Perception equals projection
What does this mean?
It means that your perception of people or situations around you is truly a projection of what is going on inside your mind.
This is why two people can witness the same thing, yet each perceives it differently.
For example, let’s say that someone is behaving badly in the street, they are yelling loudly and causing a scene… every single person witnessing this will perceive this differently, for example, some may think:
- “Gosh, look at that person over there, aren’t they being rude, I would never act like that” or
- “What an idiot! Look how this person is carrying on, talk about being childish, I am glad I am not like that” or
- “That makes me feel nervous, I’m going to cross the road and get away from them” or
- “Poor thing, they are really upset”
Or … any number of different perceptions.
The way that you view people is the way you will treat them, depending on your filters, lens or beliefs about that individual.
Change your perception of things and you will change your reality
The difference in how each person perceives a situation is a projection of what is going on inside them, because you will only perceive the things that you have within you.
This is also the case when your perception is positive, such as when you are around people or situations that motivate you or lift up your spirits; you are recognising those qualities within yourself.
So, the next time you find yourself around a person that annoys you or delights you and you find yourself in a situation where you are going to make a judgment about something, ask yourself, ‘how is this a reflection of myself?’
Regardless of how you perceive a situation, you can learn something about yourself simply because of how you perceived a situation.
A teacher once shared with the class that the people who trigger us to feel negative emotions are messengers. They are messengers for the unhealed parts of our being.
Be grateful for triggers as they point out the areas where you are not free
Try to connect with the part of you that feels a reaction (trigger) to what you have perceived; here you can discover hidden beliefs that you have about yourself.
I say ‘hidden’ as we are often not even aware of them. But it can be very helpful if you discover that you are harbouring beliefs that no longer serve you, because if you want to change this within you, then discovering it, is the first step to changing it.
You can change how you perceive things, because you are in charge of what you perceive in the world. It is your choice how you react to the outside circumstances.
So remember…
What we see in others is really what we see in ourselves!
It is up to us how we perceive everything around us.
What we focus on is what we will see, what we project is what is going on in us.
You are the creator of your reality, everything you experience, and every person you meet and every moment of every day, good or bad, is your creation.
You will learn a great deal if you pay attention to your responses to life…
‘First realise that your world is only a reflection of yourself and then stop finding fault with the reflection’ – N. Maharaj
