Perception: A fragile thing (non-material) which I tend to ignore
The Most Fragile Thing I Own: Why My Perception Needs Extra Care
Most of the time, when I wonder about the most fragile thing around me, I end up with a different answer. If I find any fragile item, I will try taking extra care of it. For example, when handling electric bulbs, I take extra care so they don't fall and break. If I am handling Chinese clay pots, I will be extra careful. The list of items I consider fragile keeps growing without an end in sight. Sometimes I consider my life itself a fragile thing, as I'm not sure about the next moment. These are all things, whether physical or non-physical, that I try to treat with the required care.
But none of the times did I consider my perception a fragile thing. Some people are so confident about their perception that they can bet on its stability. More or less, I was also the same, but now I am trying to change.
The Illusion of a Stable View
It’s beneficial if I manage to create a strong perception about anything and make my decisions based on it. However, assuming that my perception is correct and will remain correct is not always true. I may believe my view on a particular thing, action, or thought is strong and won't change. I may be right for some time; I may even be right for my entire life. But as soon as I learn about the other aspect of that thing, action, or thought, it doesn't take long for that perception to change, no matter how confident I was about it just recently.
Sometimes we make major mistakes simply because of a flawed perception. By flawed perception, I mean one made based on limited information where other sides are completely unknown.
The Actor's Story: A Case Study in Fragility
To illustrate, let's consider a common movie story. An actress turns into a bar dancer to raise the actor's nephew. Without knowing the cause, when the actor learns about her profession, he becomes furious and starts intensely hating the actress. From his point of view, he is justified because he has a perception that this is a bad profession. He is also only aware of one side of the actress: that she is involved in a profession he deems unacceptable.
As the story moves, the actor discovers the other side of her profession—the reasoning. She turned to it solely to raise an orphan child, who coincidentally is his nephew. Now, the actor's perception is completely changed. He thinks she is a great person who sacrificed her own joy in life for someone else.
The Challenge of the Complete Picture
I don't think this is a unique story. I see many similar scenarios happening all around, all the time. This is often seen in cases of disputes. Both sides involved have different perceptions of the same thing, fact, or action, leading them to take or desire different courses of action.
Until I learn about all sides of the thing, fact, or action, I cannot determine the right or wrong path. This is not an easy job, which is why I consider the role of a judge to be highly challenging. They truly deserve the honor.
Towards a More Flexible Self
Having seen and known all these stories for so long, it is surprising that I rarely think about the validity of my own perception, and I likely give it too much weight at the time. But now, I am trying to be a changed man.
What I want to do now is try my best to learn and discover all sides of a fact and then form a perception. It's truly difficult, if not impossible, to discover all the sides, and thus making a truly correct perception is a huge challenge. Therefore, I want to balance the weight I give to my perception when making any decision, always leaving room for some undiscovered sides.
If I don't leave room for doubt, I may end up completely stuck without any chance to recover. I will try to implement this in my day-to-day activities and especially in relationship management.
Comments
Post a Comment