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The Mind: The Power of Perspective and Perception

Posted on May 19, 2016 in BLOG, Uncategorized |

INTRODUCTION: In the last lesson, we explored the connection between our “Inner Critic” and the negative effects it can have upon our mind…and therefore, upon our emotions and actions. Because the Inner Critic is always pointing us into negativity about ourselves or others, it is no wonder that the more we listen to him…the more unhappy, unhealthy and miserable life will become.

(Not only for ourselves, but those around us who become infected with our negativity).

As humans,

we feel limited in understanding certain things about our lives,

and therefore, we can easily become deceived or overwhelmed with feelings coming from our Inner Critic…because it is giving us half-truths, rare possibilities, or downright lies. For example: Let’s say Susie bakes a cake for the annual baking contest at the local fair. Upon looking at it, her “Inner Critic” begins to question whether or not it is her best effort…whether or not it is presentable enough for competition, or even if it is eatable. By now she is questioning whether or not she should even enter it in the contest…fearing the embarrassment of failure if she does so.

Because all of these questions are flowing through her

own perspective

…she is limited upon knowing the truth, and is therefore subject to fear and deception. Her “truth” has become only what her mind has accepted from her Inner Critic. (We can only imagine how Susie is feeling about now…).

Now let’s say that she goes ahead and enters the cake into the contest and the three judges love it, awarding it a blue ribbon. The difference in what she was feeling and thinking becomes totally wrong…based upon a different PERSPECTIVE…those of the judges.

This small example teaches us how easily we can be ‘shut down’ mentally and emotionally by the ‘mind games,’ going on inside of our brains…when we are not employing the power of Perspective and Perception. It is important that we employ all ‘weapons’ or techniques, (given to us by God), to fight these devastating deceptions.

PERSPECTIVE & PERCEPTION:

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, TO PERCEIVE the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion…a wise man will hear and increase learning, a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:1-7

The definition of perception is: “

to apprehend understanding through our senses and mind while stimulus is present.” The definition of perspective is: “Our mental view of a situation, (both internal and external). So Perspective is how we are viewing a circumstance…while perception works to give us an understanding of that circumstance. The problem with both perception and perspective is they both need ‘outside’ stimulus to be accurate…otherwise they are wide-open to misinterpretation and deception. This is where knowledge and wisdom come into play and why Biblical truth and established knowledge is so important to us keeping mental boundaries. Otherwise our Inner Critic will take over…filling our minds with false information, regarding our circumstances.

The Four Seasons of Life

CHILDHOOD: Childhood is the launching board from which our minds will take us to in the future. Our “Formative Years,” are a time when our minds are growing, (both physically and with knowledge), and when we are most susceptible to false narratives from our Inner Critic. (These criticisms can last a life-time). In short, our self-esteem is being formed in these years, and our self-esteem is what defines us to ourselves in relation to others.

Much of our belief system about ourselves is ‘set in stone’ during these years and can be very hard to break…in fact…may be impossible without the intervention of God.

In girls, the Formative Years are typically ages 3-11 years old, while in boys it is typically 3-13 years old. (This is why many boys seem immature to girls of their own age). It is during these important years that our minds are being sponges…soaking up all kinds of information…both good and bad. It is a time when ‘hurtful’ or ‘bullying’ words or actions can cause us to embrace extremely negative views about ourselves, effectively shutting down our true power and possibilities. It is also when we are our most active in imagination and ‘day-dreaming’ of what our life could be in the future…even if we have no concrete ideas how to get there.

YOUNG ADULTHOOD:

Young Adulthood is a difficult transition as our minds and bodies are growing from a child into an adult. There are times in this season, that we feel both grown up and childish and our thoughts and emotions can easily swing between the two. Young Adulthood can also be a time of great fear as we begin to realize the evil that is present in the world and began to grasp such events as death, illness, serious criminal behavior and threats to our safety. It is also, often a time of despair as we see our bodies changing from a child into an adult with issues like acne, a desire for a mate and the desire to “fit into” social circles that might give us a sense of ‘belonging.’ It is in this time that we are also most susceptible to ‘peer pressures,’ as the desire to ‘fit in with our social circle,’ becomes increasingly important to our own validity and self-esteem.

ADULTHOOD:

This season of life is the longest, (although it often seems to fly by), and is where we basically settle into who we are and accept certain things about ourselves. This season can also be marked by perceptions we have developed about ourselves in the previous seasons, and be reflected in our actions…or in-actions. For example: If we have accepted in our childhood and young adulthood that we are limited in our ability to achieve certain things, (wealth, education, family, etc.), we may settle into a job or lifestyle that is far below what we could actually achieve. In short, our Inner Critic has defeated your ability to dream big and achieve big…so we settle for what we can have.

This is also a period of life, when we begin to question our own mortality and try to find God in a deeper and more meaningful way, or in some cases, try to recapture our youth by re-evaluating our current life and deciding it’s not bringing us the happiness we had hoped. This is often referred to as a “mid-life crisis.”

SENIOR ADULTHOOD:

This is the season of our lives where we realize that much of our life is over and try to maximize what time we have left. We become mostly secure in the person we are and accept what our life has given to us. We have become accustomed to pain and loss and have embraced that we too will go the way of our ancestors. Much of our focus becomes on helping those beneath us, to give them a better life than we had.

THE PERSPECTIVE OF ETERNITY AND GOD

As we struggle through various parts of our seasons, what doesn’t change is that we are seeing life from our own perspective and that perspective is often flawed, because it is only focused upon temporary outcomes. God however…has been an intimate piece of every moment of our life on Earth. He views us from the lens of eternity and desires to give us that vision of ourselves now. Imagine how minute the problems we are going through now would seem…if we could view our whole existence through the lens of eternity!

While we often hear that in Heaven there is no more sickness, pain, death, defeat, sadness, etc…it is also important to remember that “IN GOD’S EYES” (perspective) we have already entered into eternity the moment we can to believe in Christ.

This whole part of the teaching on the mind is for us to reflect upon our current perception of things by getting a different perspective. Imagine how our belief system might change if someone were able to give us a more accurate perspective of ourselves than the one we created for ourselves or the one that was created through our Inner Critic.

YOU IN YOUR OWN WORDS: Use the space below to describe yourself. Not just the good..not just the bad. Just a description of how you view yourself…through the perspective of your own lens…

Reydon Stanford

Senior Pastor

Trinity Christian Center Church