Wednesday, February 16, 2011

drop 40: perception… the intellectual changeling

I should have done it this way! You are doing it wrong! My way really works, do it now! You can’t be an expert without a degree. They really aren’t working very hard. That was a stupid answer.

One of our 6 intellectual gifts – perception – is the one that is always changing based on new information. The six are perception, intuition, imagination, memory, reason and will. Perception, or our point of view, changes constantly! When we judge another by our standards and ideas (perception/point of view) we are saying ‘our way of doing things is the best way.’ But it’s not forever and in many cases it is only momentary.

Perception like the other gifts must be exercised – exercised like a muscle. When it is weak, we don’t even see it is changing and rely on our old point of view in judging situations. When strong, we can track the changes in our perception and take action based on the change in real-time.

We each have our own distinct perception of everything and anything. No two points of view are precisely alike. And I believe my way works for me and you believe your way works for you. So should you judge another by your perception, just know that they are not using your point of view, but their own.


How does one ‘exercise’ the mental muscle of perception? For it is via exercise that we begin to see that there is never a reason to judge someone by our own point of view. Often telling another they should do it a certain way, has them feel that you are ‘making them wrong.’ Why they feel this way is about their limiting beliefs, which I have written about in the archives of this newsletter.

If you accept the law of polarity (one of the universal laws) you know that for every yes, there is a no. For every up there is a down. No outside, unless you have an inside, and so forth. Whether you embrace this law or not, it does work each and every time without fail, like gravity. If someone is doing something you consider ‘wrong,’ remember it is ‘right’ for them.

If you can ‘catch’ yourself judging another by your perception, that is a start. Just realizing you are doing it is step one. Even if you would bet a week’s salary you are RIGHT about this topic, STOP and say nothing. Remind yourself that your being right only works for you… no one else. With tens of thousands of bits of information coming to us via our five senses every day, catching yourself once a day is perfect.

Because repetition is the first law of learning, haphazard practice or exercise of this mental muscle does not work. You must actively make an effort each day, or every other day, or 3 times a week in spaced intervals to take this action. Now and then is a waste of your time, it doesn’t ‘stick,’ or become a habit for you – the habit of grace – letting others have their own way of doing things!

If you commit to doing this consistently over 90 days, you will find you no longer push your point of view or perspective on others because 1) you know they have their own unique perspective, 2) you see your own point of view changing as you get new information, and 3) you can then open the door to a discussion about both your points of view for a synergistic effect.

No one likes to feel they did are doing something wrong. It feels bad. And to be in harmony with the abundance of the universe is to feel good – our natural state. Before you speak to judge another – smile, stop yourself, (bite your tongue if you must) and just listen to the other person. Then you can pat yourself on the back because you have just taken your first step in developing that mental muscle – perception – which distinguishes you from more than 90% of people who are simply unaware of this gift and how it can be developed.

Leslie Flowers

Drops of Awareness and the Leslie Flowers Logo are registered trademarks of Leslie Flowers Enterprises Inc.

Leslie Flowers Enterprises - 232 Hanover Place, Cary, NC 27511 ph 919-271-4948

No comments:

Post a Comment