Changing Perspective

Typically, it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it. The same thing seems to go for what you see.

It used to be fair to say that objective reality was measurable and quantifiable. This meant that the true nature of material things could be absolutely and clearly determined. These days however, quantum physics has pretty well proved that there is really no such thing as objective reality.

Matter, when reduced to its smallest particles, can behave as either particles or waves and can’t be classified as clearly one or the other. Things that appear solid are composed mostly of air, and things that seem motionless, like a chair, are actually made of subatomic elements that are constantly moving. Even the space between celestial bodies seems to be full – we’re just not sure yet what it’s full of.

So, in a very real sense, we are always creating our own reality. The way we see things depends not only on our physical makeup but also on the psychological filters we look through. One of the most powerful filters, that directly affects how we see the world, is our self-esteem. Yes, it seems like the term has been overworked, but warranted self-esteem is still an important part of our psychological make-up. It helps define who we believe we are.

Low self-esteem creates a world in which the glass is always half empty, life is dangerous, and people are not to be trusted. High self-esteem lets us see the glass as half full and people as allies and friends. In fact, no other single quality can affect your experience of life quite like self-esteem can.

Fortunately, low self-esteem was learned, and can be unlearned, rebuilt and replaced with high self-esteem. Yes, sometimes we need to start from the ground and work up, so to speak. But there are many resources out there to help us; we just need to make up our minds that the time has come to make the switch in perspective.