So, if I change myself and how I view the world my perspective changes and therefore my perception of my world changes as well. I can think about how to change myself and how I look at things.
LOL!! I haven't looked it up so I'll share what it means to me, then I'll go look it up and find out what it really means.
perception: the way I interpret the information received through the senses.
perception from a dictionary: an immediate or intuitive recognition, as ofa moral or
asthetic quality
perspective from a dictionary: the relation of parts to one another and to the whole, in a mental view or prospect
Before I stopped drinking and drugging, and well before I started, I had a sort of "ho hum" "why bother" attitude toward life. I found fault with many things especially people. I found out later on that I had mild depression and OCD. I had always had an anger streak in me. When I let it out I would get yelled at or get in trouble so I learned to stuff it and hold it all in. The thinking that was causing it never changed. In fact the fire was only fueled.
Anyway, I had gotten my butt kicked pretty good in many different areas of my life. I and my life were way out of control until one day I gave up. A friend of mine gave me some prayers to say. The one was a prayer of authority. It gave all power to God. Which meant that I was no longer the one in control. As I said that prayer something inside me started to change and I could begin to see things differently. As I sobered up I learned to clear away resentments, anger, self-pity along with other self centered thinking and behavior. As these things got cleared up there became more room for good stuff like love, patience, kindness, willingness, humility, forgiveness and gratitude. Slowly my thinking started to change and I felt as though I was getting a new outlook on people and life in general. An outlook I had never had or even knew existed. I wouldn't say that I learned to see someone else's perspective on things although I am sure there may be many who think similarly to the way I do today. I was given a new perspective when I got cleaned up and began to take care of myself.
For what its worth:
A mistake I used to make, and still do, is that I base what I think about other people in relation to the way I am. With an ego the size of Mt. Everest it wasn't often I thought highly of people. I've worked on deflating my ego and try to see people for who they are in relation to themselves. Heck, most of the time I try to not think at all and just accept ppl places and things for who and what they are and be happy no matter what.
Changing isn't always easy and it requires honesty and effort on my part. The end result is that I am happy, at peace with the world and sober.
Take care and God Bless!!
Tried to read wikipedia... this is not elementary stuff... made my head spin.
When you say 'change perspective', do you mean to another person's point of view? Or what? No! "perception"... perspective I guess I know, but perception... I'll have to look that up.
Glad it helps. Have a great day!!
I am going to read your post... re-read it... and read it again. You have already taught me so much about what living in the light is like.
You may post it none the less because its knowledge you gained any way
Pun
Thank-you for sharing
In the past I had found myself searching for something I was unable to see. The answer was with me the entire time however I was closed and blind. One day a little crack began to open me up and I saw that it wasn't the world that needed to change (despite all the flaws I believed it to have), it was me and my perception of it. I was in a place in my own head where I was unable to see any Good in the world. The Good that I had been searching for started to creep in. A seed had been planted which filled a hole. A seed of love, hope and caring. A seed of willingness and humility. A seed which allows me to see this as God's world and is exactly the way it is supposed to be right now. A seed which allows me to trust God and accept His works without that feeling of despair and hopelessness.
I come to this forum, as well as others, to fertilize this seed in an effort to help it grow, to help me grow. I also share what I have been given with others so they may one day be allowed to see what is right in front of them and see it as being Good and exactly the way it is supposed to be right now without that feeling of despair and hopelessness.
I understand that not everybody thinks like I do and that is ok. I am happy and at peace with life as it is today. The questions I ask myself are am I happy? Am I hopeful? Do I understand that it is my perception that needs to change if neither of the answers to the previous questions are yes? Am I willing to do the work necessary to make the changes? Do I trust that God can and will help me with the changes?
Don't be afraid to share experiences. I never know whose life I can touch and change for the better. However, if I am sharing experiences soley for some type of self gratification with the expectation that people will change based on what I have said, then I am doing it for the wrong reasons and may never receive the full joy of giving, the joy that comes with no expectations of anything in return.
Thanks for letting me share.
"Write a single post of some of your gained experiance and knowledge from your search for spirituality/god/truth/life/enlightenment"
What I learned? Or how I learned it?
What if I wasn't searching for enlightenment when I found it?