Perception..........

Perception is like a camera......The picture you get depends on the aperature, f-stop and speed of the film. If your aperature is not large enough then you will only see one small part of what there is to see. If your F-stop is too short then you may not get enough exposure and if it is too long you may get over exposed..... If your film is fast enough you may be able to stop motion, if not some things will appear blurring and you will discount them as pertinent.

Perception results are just like a photo in the sense that it seems to be forever for most. Right or wrong, perceptions are hard for people to change. If the action is simple or basic like a tree falling over then most will agree that the tree fell over. If is is more complex, not complicated, but complex like interactions between two or more people it can be more difficult to perceive what everyone's role is. Let's use Humpty Dumpty as an example, the story goes that he sat on a wall and one day he took a great fall.....right? What about his story that he was pushed..... We all perceive that he just either got lazy, fell asleep or wanted a little extra attention that day. What if his story is correct and we all perceive the wrong reason for the fall? Doesn't that make our perception wrong? Most of us will keep our initial perception as the correct one, as well as argue the point until we are exhausted.

Why can't perception change? Why can't most just see that the aperature was not open wide enough or the f-stop not allowing for a longer look? The possibility that we missed something and then judged a situation unfairly doesn't enter the minds of some really intelligent people at times. Is open mindedness so rare that we can't ever change our perception even when given the details of a bigger picture?

Filters effect the picture as well. Filters, like our past relationships with family and friends, romantic relationships and acquaintances. The happenings in them and the meanings we applied to them at the time. That is why it is so important to make sure that we are in the "present" with the details of a situation. To make sure our perception is based on what is happening right now. Not what happened last week or 20 years ago that was similar to this happening. Thus carrying our past into the present.

In summary, just take each day like a new one. Every happening like a new one. Take the largest picture possible and feeze the motion as much as necessary to look at all the pieces. Get opinions from others that you trust. Take what you can from those opinions but still form your own. Once that opinion is formed, still stay flexible enough to listen to new information as it arrives to you, and be willing to change your perception based on what impact new information may have.