How You Perceive is How You Receive: perception in our lives

Turner snoozing under my deck

Yesterday was not a cool day in my life. It was busy, and hectic and full of poop. Literally, poop. I woke up, logged into work, and went to let the dogs out... my laundry room, where one of the dogs slept because he had been sick, was covered in poop. Walls, washer, floor, rug, dog bed, clothes around the hamper- the kids can put the clothes around it but never in it, go figure. Oh, and the dog, himself, was covered in poop, too. So when he ran out the door and down my stairs to the back door, he left poopy paw prints wherever he walked. The dog- he's not even mine. He's my best friend's and she and her husband are in Hawaii. So while they got to bask in the sun on a beach and scuba dive in the crystal waters, I was here, dealing with poop. This wasn't the first time he'd been sick since he had come to my house last week. Oh, no. He left a massive blow out (from both ends) down my stairs, across my dining room, and around my family room. That was two nights prior (hence he was sleeping in my laundry room). Now, don't get me wrong, I was not happy. And while all of this was going on, I was in a meeting for work. The thoughts in my head? 1) My house now wreaks. Absolutely wreaks. 2) When will this blasted meeting be over? 3) Poor Turner!! He must feel awful to have this kind of physical manifestation. So, even though I had a job to do, I logged off work and took him to the vet. Along with having the dog, I also have my best friend's kids. Now I'm juggling 5 kids and two dogs, one of whom is sick. I'm just going to give you an outline of the day, instead of narrate all the little details. You'll get the point.

• Work
• Sick dog- poop all over
• Clean up! (I had some help- the girls helped with the poop scrubbing and the boys hosed down and shampooed the dog)
• Drive girls to Cheer Camp
• Take dog to vet (spoiler... he's feeling much better, now!)
• Pick up girls from Cheer Camp
• Take son to reading center
• Run errands
• Pick up son from reading center
• Go to movie (yay... something fun!) Incredibles 2 was awesome!
• Rush out of movie that was way longer than I thought it would be
• Get home and change clothes, in about 30 seconds- add some jewelry to compensate for the crazy hair that I didn't have time to tame
• Go to women't networking event- which was the best way to end my day!

Whoa. I know you've all been there.

The Ahlswood children at Incredibles 2

I had to include my own doggie

I've been working on this post about perspective for a few days now. And then at the women's networking event last night, what do you think part of the keynote speaker's talk was about? Perspective. And our personal story and how perspective shapes our story.

I had two options yesterday, and even though I was stressed from the chaos, I could either embrace it, or let that stress run me down. When I told the story of my day to my friend, I laughed about it. Everything had been entirely out of my control so I decided to just roll with it.

We live our lives looking at our realities entirely through our lenses of perspective. The speaker last night listed our biggest influencing lenses: gender, race, education, socioeconomics, religion, sexuality, income, age... to name a few. No two people will look at something and see the same thing because it is our experiences that shape our perceptions.

What is truth? It seems like it would be black and white. But actually it's reality. What are your realities when you look at something? What are your perceptions and how are they influenced by your experiences? 

"How you perceive something determines how you receive something." 

Preston Smiles

When we perceive things negatively, like all the poop I dealt with yesterday, we bring negativity into our realities. Change your perspective, change your reality.

In a job you don't love... you have a job.

Kids that are wild and misbehaving... you get to be a parent.

Woke up to a poopy laundry room... I woke up that day.

Electric bill increased by 10% last month... you have electricity.

Family drama... you have a family.

Cereal for dinner... you have food. 

Stuck inside for a week because of the rain... you have a roof over your head.

It's all about perception. Challenging our perceptions can be hard. And to change them will seriously push us. It's easy to stay in our comfort zones, but if we want to make a change, we have to be willing to change. 

As a woman, I have so many negative perceptions of myself. I don't earn as much as my husband - but I do earn. My kids can drive me crazy now that they're on summer vacation - but I have kids, and they have the opportunity to have an education. Tim worked late - but I have a partner, and he has a job and provides for our family. The watermelon I'm eating right now as I write has seeds in it - but I have fresh food to eat.

My most negative perception... how I view my reflection in the mirror. Body image is a struggle for so many women. We want to be thinner, taller, bigger/smaller breasts, nicer clothes, cuter shoes... we have trained ourselves to think we are never good enough. We view ourselves through the lenses that society has given us. Throw those lenses away. Look in the mirror and compliment yourself. Give your heart some affirmations about your life. Validate your dreams for yourself and don't allow other people to influence what your heart desires.  

If we woke up one day and had all those things that we think would make us whole, would we appreciate them or would we still want more? We're so trained by society to think it's never good enough... we're never good enough. What we need to train ourselves to be is grateful... for what we do have.

The problems we have aren't the problem. Our perceptions are the problem. And the wrong perception limits us from the solutions to the problems. We can't be afraid to fail... those are our opportunities to learn. And grow. The only true failure is when we quit. So keep fighting. Challenge your perspectives and let go of the negativity. Welcome positivity- let it feed your soul and drive your success.