You are wrong.
How you believe other people see you, how you interpret what they say, how you perceive the meaning of their actions; all of these are to a greater or lesser degree, false.
At best, your perceptions are only slightly incorrect; at worst, they are completely misleading and can set you off on a course that is of no benefit to you at all.
I believe that the large majority of people make many false interpretations each day without even being entirely aware of it. Interpretations such as “she looked at me like that because she dislikes me” or “he asked me how I am because I look unwell” or “he keeps doing that little thing just to annoy me”. Do you see what I mean?
What you have to remember is that we perceive these “little things” through the mental filters known as beliefs. The lady who is insecure about her nose will interpret that look from a passerby as meaning that he thinks her nose is ugly; while the same look may make another lady feel happy. Both interpretations are false to some degree, though it is obvious to know which of the two is more useful.
Negative perceptions not only lead us astray, they also slowly drain our energy without us even really being aware of it. If you can imagine that this is influencing the large majority of people on a daily basis, you will begin to see the real scope of things.
Interestingly, the solution to this can be found in the problem. Instead of thinking “she looked at me like that because she dislikes me” one can simply think “she looked at me” and leave it at that. Instead of “he asked me how I am because I look unwell” one can think “he asked me how I am”. This is simply stating what is true and can be proven as true. It is what I call “perceiving the proof”.
If further evaluation needs to be made, then it can now be made in full consciousness. If no further evaluation is required (which is often the case), then it can just be left at that.
Perceiving the proof creates a space between stimulus and response in which one can then choose her own reactions to what is happening. She is no longer a slave to her old habits of thinking. No longer is she living in reaction.
Keep this in mind as you leave home tomorrow, and experiment with perceiving the proof throughout your day. Try it, and see what results you get.
