Perception probably isn't reality

What would you think if I told you I lived here in this majestic old home with a butler, two maids, a gardener and a cook? Would you resent me? Would you hate me? Would you be jealous, and want to be me? Would you scoff and make up stories in your own mind about how money doesn't buy happiness to mitigate your own feeling of inadequacy? I guess all legitimate reactions based on what I know from human nature. What then if I told you that I was the gardener and that I lived in a small bedroom in the basement with no natural light? What would you think then? Would your perception of me change?

That's the thing about perception, it's not often the reality although in the mind of the person applying it to a seen situation or scenario it becomes their reality; A reality that may be difficult to readjust if not altogether correct.

Society these days values appearance far more than it used to I think and one only needs to sit a café in a piazza watching the world go by to see judgement applied. You know, the upturned nose and frown of disapproval for the guy slumped in the street holding out a hat for penny's, the leer and whistle offered to that attractive girl walking by knowing she loves the attention, or the ignorant laughter at the slow the old man making his way awkwardly along the footpath with the walking frame...

Maybe the slumped guy is a decorated military veteran struggling with PTSD, cast from his home by a family who cannot understand him anymore. Is the pretty girl a rape-victim who cringes inside with fear and the remembered touch of hands, strong fumbling hands, tearing away her clothing every time she walks by a man who looks her way? Could that slow old man be an olympic gold medalist from yesteryear in the 100m sprint, an elite athlete who time caught up with?

You see, your perception is often wrong...In fact if you assume it's always wrong you'll be closer to the truth.

False perception can be costly. It often skews a persons' belief and actions and can cause people to do, or not do, certain things to their own detriment, or the detriment of other's. The great thing is that there's a cure for false perception. It's called finding out the truth, or at the very least, gaining more information. Sure, you're never going to know the truth about everyone you come across but rather than pre-judge those that you do interact with, taking the time to investigate prior to judging the person, or situation, can pay dividends. For those people you don't interact with, well...Why judge them at all, poorly of favourably...It's none of your business.

So, am I the gardener at this estate, or the owner? Well, it doesn't really matter for the sake of this blog. What does matter is that I said what I wanted to say and I feel a little better for it. This post was prompted by an observation I made in which a person was judged harshly; A judgement that I know to be incorrect. The sad fact is in this case it will inhibit both of those people, judged and judger.