JOIN USConjure up the following scenario: There is a room and the door to it is slightly ajar. How does one perceive this? It can either be perceived as the door is half open, which is an optimistic viewpoint, or it can be perceived as it being almost closed, which portends a negative-minded disposition. The same situation evokes two diametrically opposite responses. The above example is an appropriate one to show how one’s perception can be instrumental in influencing one’s thinking and the reason why one person is successful, whereas another person (who may not be necessarily less talented) garners failure.
There are a lot of bonuses, plus points and advantages for the positive minded individuals. If one is positive, one can turn around even an awkward and detrimental situation rendering it safe and viable. On the other hand, a pessimistic person can destroy, thwart of even obliterate chances of hope and recovery due to his pessimistic thinking. Motivational speakers and thinkers aver forcefully that one should be positive and eschew negativities at every stage and level in life. As William Shakespeare so aptly put it, “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” However, laypersons may point out that exercising positive thinking in difficult situations is easier said than done. One should realise that there is usually sunlight at the end of a long dark tunnel, and that there is usually a silver lining in every dark cloud. Even in the bleakest scenarios, there usually is a modicum of hope and succour. Take, for example, Pandora’s box. When it was opened, out spewed a whole plethora of negativities, but, finally, at the very end, emerged the assuaging quality of `H.O.P.E.’, which is an acronym which can stand for `Hold On, Pain Ends’.
The following survey shows how a group of religious leaders proved that perception influences one’s direction of thinking in a very substantial way. The survey was done on believers, agnostics and atheists. Each one was given a sheet of paper on which was written, ‘God is Nowhere’. The organisers then said those doing the survey could alter the sentence by putting a space/spaces anywhere they deemed fit. After thinking and doing the exercise, they handed over the slips of paper. It was not surprising that the believers, who are usually more optimistic than atheists, wrote ‘God is now here’ (putting a space between W and H), whereas the more negative-minded atheists made no changes! Therefore, it is evident that one should not be negative, for then, one will be losing out a lot on what life has to offer. Negative perception saps one’s energy besides taking one further from God and closer to Satan.
The following poem is a direct takeaway of this article on the clinching choice of different perceptions: “Your mind is a garden/ Your thoughts are the seeds/ You can grow flowers/ Or you can grow weeds.” The choice is yours.