"Perception" by G.

Perception; how you view the world. Not the official psychological definition, but good enough for my purposes today. But how you view something isn't necessarily what it actually is. If your in a dark room, you would say the room is dark. If a lamp decided to turn itself on, then you would say the room was well-lit. Yet nothing in this room actually changed, only our perception of it. And as we all eventually find out, perception is everything.

Your perception is very easily shaped; almost like some really soft Play-Doh. You probably have some assumptions behind perception too. If it's nighttime, then you would perceive things as dark. But what if that fake Rolex watch your wearing says that it's 9 A.M, and it was pitch black? You would probably be a bit confused. Well for one thing, if you didn't go off buying a fake Rolex you wouldn't have this problem. But the point is, as we live and learn, the rules that guide our perception change and grow bigger in number. But perception isn't just your physical sight you know. It's how you view the world with your eyes and in your mind.

So... how's that economy doing? Most of us would probably give a negative response. But why? It's not just because of prices or our job security. The media has a huge say in our perception of things, whether we like it or not. They can dictate which things will be shown in a positive or negative light. And even with gas prices down, all they need to do is send some impressive looking analyst from Harvard to tell everyone that the Apocalypse is coming, and even YOU will jump out of your pants. Well, isn't that just wonderful? But the Media, like many external influences, shapes your perception of many things.

Is there a "right" way to perceive? Not really. Are there things you can do to improve? You bet. The best thing you can do is to stay open. There are many ways to perceive something, and each way can teach you something different. But perception really is everything, and if you aren't careful then it can be easily manipulated. Thanks for reading; comments are always welcome of course!