Perception is such an interesting concept. Confusing…yet interesting!
Last December I stepped into the River Ganges, in Rishikesh, India, and asked this incredible river to up-root and wash away my judgments of self, of others and of life.
I'm telling you…watch what you wish for!
Recently, I was with a group of people who I have known for about six months. What prompted me to write this Blog was their view of who I am in their eyes and how much they perceive me to have changed in this period of time. Apparently, I am now much more humourous and open, more approachable and willing to share, and they are getting glimpses of the love they know is available there somewhere. Now maybe I'm exaggerating a little (I do have a tendency to do this…) and what blew me away was that they haven't got a clue of who I truly am! In most other circles I am known for how loving I am, how funny I can be and how safe people feel in my presence.
So…what's the difference?!
Apparently perceptions are different. My behaviour in their company 'appears' to be more reserved, more withdrawn, more protective…and yet it's still 'me' showing up in both situations.When I'm with other groups they feel the laughter, the love and the openness. How interesting that two different groups experience such contrasting versions of me and yet…in my view…I am still the same person.
In order for me to get clarity on this subject, I asked the more recent group members what qualities they saw in me. I wasn't fishing for compliments…I wanted to understand how they were experiencing me through their own set of filters. The comments they shared taught me a whole bunch about myself that I was and wasn't aware of.
The feedback I received, from a couple of the folks, was particularly invaluable to me.
The statements were posed more as affirmations than anything else…It was confirmed to me that I am willing to listen deeply to other peoples' concerns, that I will go to the depths of someone else's despair so they can heal, that I create a safe and trusting environment for others to reveal to themselves the truth of who they really are…all done in a bath of love.
I am willing to do this for others and what I was asking of the group, without being very articulate in my request, was…would you be willing to do that for me? Would you be willing to reflect back to me the qualities you see in me so I can hear the truth in your words?
More importantly I learned that to be able to reflect this truth back to others we need to be in stillness ourselves first. We are simply a mirror of each others' reflections…my 'perception' of you really seems to be a reflection of me. My judgments of you are merely judgments of myself. And, what I'm learning about me, through you, is that I can be tough on myself.
It's time for me to walk more gently through my own life.
I consciously choose to be grateful for all of life's blessings…to 'hold a higher vision of me' so I can do the same for you. I continue to invite the Ganges River to sweep away any judgments and perceptions that feed into the lies of who we are not! We are love…we are limitless potential. Let's reflect our innate beauty back to each other in Truth!
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