People and the Playground of Perceptions

People don’t always think

Like we’d like to think they do,

So why do we think we know

What for them is true?

Others’ exact perceptions

Are impossible to know,

Accepting this is why

Relationships ultimately grow.

Good communication skills are

Birthed within a heart,

A heart that knows that respect

Is always a good place to start.

To know we know less

Than we often think we do,

Is a place of heart and mind

That clings to what is true.

***

RELATIONSHIP problems dog this life. A good example of which is the situation where we haven’t seen someone for a while and we instantly think that the relationship is under threat, because they haven’t made the effort to stay in contact, even though we haven’t either. Or then there is the problem of the things we feel others might be saying about us, particularly those people who we have had strained relationships with in the past. We feel they might be saying nasty things or coming to conclusions about us that are unfair or aren’t true.

It is too easy to allow the playground of our perceptions to run away to become our decided thoughts on matters. The pure ability to be able to think imaginatively in order to create impressions on the mind can be a great thing, but it can also lead us to some self-destructive and socially-destructive actions.

If we allow our minds their full quota of creativity, without checking the veracity of our thoughts, we may occasionally get it wrong. It is always good to check the logic of our perceptions about other people and what they may be thinking; especially as it pertains to what they might be thinking about us.

The possibilities prevail and there are millions of them. The truth is we can’t possibly know what people are thinking with an accuracy to bank on. Sometimes we might get a roughly right, but it’s never right enough to inform our actions. We would be better to completely disregard our perceptions in terms of our relationships, where our perceptions are based on what they could be thinking about us or any other issue for that matter.

***

We cannot tell what other people are thinking, especially when we consider how often our conclusions are incomplete. We may put too much stock in what other people are thinking when they are probably not thinking these things at all. It is better to be aware of the playground of our perceptions when it comes to what we think other people are thinking.

© 2014 S. J. Wickham.