The C.A.T. Principle – Global Ebook Awards GOLD & SILVER Winner for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of 2014 & 2016

Perception is Reality: Really?

How often have we heard or come across the words that perception is reality? More times than naught, I dare say. It seems that modern society has embraced the concept that if we perceive something to be true, then it holds that it must be true; it must be reality. What a powerful thought this is, powerful that is, if we desire to live our lives in a world of make-believe, in which reality plays no role.

Because we perceive something to be, does not mean that it is. If it was, life would be but one big fairy tale, and this we know is not the case. Life has its fair share of trial, tribulation, hardship and sorrow, and for some more than others. Whether bad or good, there is one reality and one alone. There may be multiple views and interpretations of it, but this in no way diminishes the truth of any particular reality.

I always remind myself of the so-called “herd mentality” when I hear people proclaim that perception is reality. History is full of “herd mentality” examples, where the overwhelming majority perceives something to be, when it actually isn’t. There is strength in numbers as the saying goes, but numbers don’t necessarily imply any correlation to reality. In fact, one could argue that the truth is often inversely proportional to the amount of people who perceive it to be the truth. The peer pressure factor sets in: because others believe it, it must be the truth, so I too must believe it. Stock markets worldwide thrive on this, as do a multitude of politicians, activists, global doomsayers, and agenda-driven hacks.

The beauty of a free-thinking society is the opportunity of people to think and act for themselves. These freedom-loving people are not slaves to the rule of popular thought, and do not allow the perception of the majority to distort their own views. Instead, they live for the truth, and take it upon themselves to discover it. For them, it is self-responsibility to do so, (see Surrender Self-Responsibility and We Surrender Freedom…) and it’s the key to living a successful life, a successful life based upon reality, and not wishful thinking.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t dream. On the contrary, the world needs dreamers, but the world needs dreamers who dream from reality, for only from reality do dreams come true.

American author and novelist Alex Haley (1921-1992) said that “Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.”

Poignant words, and ones to remember the next time someone says that perception is reality…

For more, check out The C.A.T. Principle: Change, Action, Trust – Words to Live By, a Global Ebook Awards GOLD Winner for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of 2014, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. See the latest Amazon reviews here. Now revised and expanded, and a Nominee for the Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of the 2015 Global Ebook Awards.

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A 2014 Global Ebook Awards GOLD Winner for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook.

A 2015 & 2016 Global Ebook Awards Nominee for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook