Friday 26 June 2020

Perception is truth


I used to have a notice on the wall in my office which read: Perception is Truth.

It helped my team focus on the fact that how they are perceived by our customers, (efficient, knowledgeable, professional and so on), will implant in the customers' mind a positive image of the whole team and organisation.

It also signified that there was a notice on my wall and if you have perceived it then it is in fact there.

And that's the problem with perception.

What you see, or imagine you have seen, is implanted in your mind as something that exists or has happened.

The same applies with sounds. You may have heard something, a conversation in a pub or on the bus, or half-heard it, and then it plays on your mind as to whether you heard and understood it correctly or not. Especially if what you have seen or heard is so astounding and "out-of-this-world" that it challenges your own beliefs and realities.

Let's take this Blog as an example. I've been writing it for some years now and I've had many readers come and go over the years. I'm grateful to the loyal ones who continue to visit me and support my writings. But then I ask you. Do you believe everything you read here?

At the end of the day, who are you going to believe? Your common sense or me?

The other day I checked something or other on Google and it said "This is a falsehood invented by Victor S E Moubarak on his Blog". Talk about my own words coming back to bite me in the backside!

And that's the problem with perceptions. People see something and it is implanted in their minds.

The advertising industry and the fashion and beauty industry have been capitalising on perception for years. They tell you what is glamourous, fashionable, beautiful and something to aspire to.

Many a photo has been touched and re-touched to smooth away any wrinkles or body fat which should not be there in real life.

And society copies what they perceive as the norm. Whenever people describe themselves in Dating or Match-Making websites they often gloss over the unflattering truth and describe themselves better than they really are.

As a young man I sent a dating agency one of my real life photos (untouched and not changed in any way). They returned it with a note saying: "We're not that desperate!"

Eventually I managed to get a date with a young lady through another agency. When I met the lady in question she said I did not look like the photo on the dating website. She said the photo looked as if it had been  drawn by Picasso, and added, "I thought you had a cricked neck. And why in the photo do you have an ear on your forehead?"

I told her that as a fan of Star Trek this was the Final Front Ear!

She then commented that I was much shorter than I had claimed on the website. I replied that I was not that short really, but I was still far away.

It was a question of perception.

She left without even offering to pay for half of the meal we had shared together. A hamburger and a bun can be quite expensive you know!

So you see, "Perception is Truth". She had read something about me on the dating website and I was not as described in real life. Perhaps it was my fault for dating her at a badly lit restaurant ... in a back alley somewhere ... in the poor side of town.

Mind you, she was no picture of beauty herself. In fact she was so ugly that I guess Peeping Toms would ring her door bell and tell her to draw the curtains shut.

And that's perception, be it in a badly lit fast food outlet or in the bright light of day.

How about you? How do your family and friends perceive you?

More important. How does God perceive you? You can't fool Him you know.

16 comments:

  1. I would never try to pull the wool over God's eyes...He knows all and trying to hide my thoughts from Him would be futile.
    But you Victor, your perceptions are a part of who you are...so please don't change. We need your "perceptions of the truth" in our lives to help get us through our daily lives...thank you.

    God's Blessings Victor 💮

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words, Jan; it's great to see you visiting again. I hope you're well.

      My perceptions seem either tainted with humour or cynicism; I don't know which.

      God bless.

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  2. While she didn't have a sign on her office wall, my last boss was all the time reminding us, "Perception is everything." (Pardon, I had to pause and shudder, remembering her voice.) And one day, my friend remarked, "WHOSE perception?"
    Great points you've made; I thoroughly enjoyed your words. And your parting sentences a home run!

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    1. I think you're right with the words "WHOSE perception". These days we're overwhelmed with news, views and interviews on every media that we cannot differentiate truth from lies. Even reality is fake, it seems. So each one has his own perception based on what they believe, what they think they believe, and a mix of misunderstanding and perhaps a bit of stupidity. And then they make their decisions in life based on this, their, perception.

      God bless, Mevely. And thank you always.

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  3. Our own perceptions can be so misleading, Victor, but God's perception is infallible. How do we look to Him? That's something we should ask ourselves every day.
    Blessings, my friend!

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    1. So true and yet so comforting, Martha.

      God bless you and yours.

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  4. I agree that the last sentence of the post is the most important one.

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  5. In God's eye, I think his perception of me would be NTI (needs to improve). I'm always trying though. :)

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    1. Saints are sinners who never gave up trying. So well done, Bill. God is pleased with you.

      God bless.

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  6. And God's is the only one that really matters. :)
    I'm happy that God knows all my faults and still loves me!!!

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  7. Victor, that was very kind of you to change the font. I'm sure I was the only one who mentioned it. I really didn't expect you to do so. But thanks for your sensitivity. Today was hilarious. Why do you think people take 100 selfies to get one good one...that doesn't even look like them...hahaha

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    1. Wanda, you are a valued friend, and I am sorry not to have thought about the font when I first published the article.

      God bless you.

      Delete
  8. It's none of my business what other people think of me, it's my job to be the person The Lord created me to be and do His will, and leave it all up to Him to work out.

    Your post is thought provoking and funny as usual.

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    1. Thank you Mimi. You are so right of course in what you say.

      God bless.

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