Perceptions👀

Hello guys! Welcome back to my blog. I’m so delighted to finally write here again.

First of all, I’d like to say a very big thank you for all the comments on my last post. You guys actually eased the tension in my heart. Thanks for that❤️.

If you’re new here. My name is Vera Ibeh and I welcome you to where I pour out my thoughts. I do hope you enjoy being here as much as I do😁. If you’d like to know more about my blog, please click the link below. Thank you❤️.

https://veewrites.art.blog/about

It’s been a struggle creating the “perfect” write-up. But that depends on my definition of “perfect” because humans can be very insatiable (especially me🤦). Lord knows how many times I’ve written, erased, added a few words, removed some sentences, started all over again just to create my own idea of “perfect”. I could spend the whole day giving you detailed explanation on this “struggle” but that’s not why I’m here😂.

Moving on…

Today’s write-up is on Perceptions

Ever heard the saying “Everything in life is based on perceptions?” If you have, cheers to that. If you haven’t, well you just did.

To me, that’s one of the truest statement I’ve ever come across. Everything in life is based on how we perceive it to be. The way you see it, the way she sees it, the way he sees it, the way they see it. It all balls down to Perceptions.

So I googled the meaning of perception and this is what Google says;

Perception is awareness, comprehension or an understanding of something.

The way in which something is regarded, understood or interpreted.

This is very self explanatory. It’s simply how we perceive things to be.

Over time, I’ve noticed some facts about perceptions. Two to be precise. I most definitely believe there are more, but these are the ones I can relate to. If you know any, apart from the ones I’ll mention. Please feel free to tell me in the comment section.

So here we go;

*Perceptions differ

*Perception is not reality

I’ll try to explain these two in the best of my knowledge, relating it to different happenings in my life. I do hope you enjoy!

Perceptions differ

Looking at the above image I’m sure you already have an inkling on what I’m about to explain.

As humans, we were raised with different cultures, backgrounds, traditions, name it, and it’s not expected that we see things the same way or do things similarly.

Most times we tend to focus our attention on what we see as “normal” or “important” blinding our minds from whatever seems contrary. Which can deter our relationship with one another. Now the question is;

Why do people perceive things differently?

There are so many factors that can influence our perceptions on things, one of them is individual differences.

Individual differences plays a big role in influencing how we perceive things. Let’s paint a scenario;

You might be asked to prepare any kind of meal for a certain group of people. There’s a high tendency that you would prepare exactly what you like. Because that’s what you’re used to. Individuals in that group will perceive your meal based on diverse choices. Some may enjoy it, while some may not.

If you read my last blog, you’d remember I told you I tried out new things. Which were mostly food and drinks. Well, one of them was the “pork meat”.

For a very long time I hated pork. I hated the idea of it and that’s because I had seen too many pigs while growing up. I used to watch them play in refuse dump areas, mud and dirts so that influenced my choice. The day I heard people actually ate pig meat, I felt like throwing up. I remember calling them “barbarians” at some point 😂. But all that changed a few weeks ago. I finally tried it out after so much persuasions and now I’m in love with it. I can’t wait to try it again!

This short story shows how individual differences influences how we see things.

Another factor is the psychological state

Before this pandemic, I bet you that most people never understood the importance of sanitizing or washing their hands regularly and I’m one of them. I’m not proud of it, but you can’t really blame me or the rest of the people who didn’t. Our psychological state of mind never saw the need for it.

The emergency fire extinguisher on the wall doesn’t mean much to you until there’s a fire. If you were asked to recite the steps on how to use a fire extinguisher during emergencies, prior to that time, it would seem very difficult. But try to answer it afterwards…

Have you observed that you start noticing a particular thing when you’re in dire need of it?. It might have been in existence for years but it’s not “important” to you until it’s needed.

Now let’s relate it to our “everyday life”

We often judge people based on our own perceptions. Forgetting that they may not see things the way we do. We feel things needs to be done in our “normal way” otherwise it’s wrong.

For a very long time, I was like that. I was very devoted to doing and seeing things in a way that seemed “normal” to me. Once It’s not going my way then its wrong. I failed to understand that sometimes we have to bend a little and just see things from the next person’s point of view. I literally refused to be open minded about certain things.

But along the line, I met people, I read books,I had conversations that led to a change in/on how I processed my thoughts. Like they say; “We live to learn and we learn to live”.

Learning to see things from multiple perspectives can be quite challenging, but the effort is worth it. When you have an increased understanding about one another it will positively affect your conversations and relationships. Sometimes just listen… You never know, you might be wrong. Listening and thinking are directly related. Let me explain…

When you’re reading, what do you hear?

When you’re listening to that song, what goes through your mind?

When you’re having a conversation, how are your thoughts being processed?

Once in a while, ask yourself these questions. It would help improve your relationship with others. You have to learn to be open minded, spontaneous, and also very adaptive to change. It would help you to easily navigate your way through life and also give you an extra edge in your dealings with people.

Phew! This has got to be my longest blog so far. I’d stop here for now, so I don’t end up boring you with plenty talks 😂. I’m sure you noticed by now that I didn’t write on perception is not reality. Not to worry, I’ll dedicate a whole write-up for it. So watch out for it!

Let me know your thoughts on this one in the comment section. Don’t forget to like as well. A few people have come to me saying they don’t know how to like my post. The like button is a star ⭐ shaped icon just right under this write-up. Did you see it? I’m sure you did 😁.

Till next time

Lots of love

Vera✌🏾❤️