MY WORDS, YOUR PERCEPTION

 Hello people, it’s me again. I just came back from a journey, smiling’. Will tell you about it soon.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a simple discussion with an intent to achieve good is turned upside down and way beyond your control?  Then you begin to question yourself to know what happened, if you said something wrong, or blame yourself for starting up the conversation. Remember your intentions were good.

People will often say ‘I am responsible for my words but not in control of your perception or understanding of my intentions’. This is usually said in different ways, not exactly how I put it and I have come to understand that it is very true because of several reasons as the human mind seems not to be wired the same way. Some people confuse letter O with Zero, 6 with 9 and vice versa.

  

 Recently I had a ‘not so serious talk’ with someone and within few seconds it escalated into a scary situation and while she was spilling her inappropriate thoughts, I kept thinking ‘this is dangerous’. I was practically trying to understand how people’s mind perceive and process clear and concise statements with no innuendo.

A clear understanding that individual differences will always come to play in almost all situation calmed me down and I also thought of the grace of having like minds. It’s actually a thing of peace. An acquaintance once asked me why I wasn’t close to an ex-friend anymore and I simply said, ‘we grew up and don’t think alike anymore’. I cited recent discussions and how her perceptions weren’t okay with me. Then, I can’t keep cutting off people because they don’t reason like me... where will different flavors come from?

I try to simplify my words, there meanings and my intentions as clearly as possible to avoid weird perceptions or attributions. So if I want to say ‘you are stupid’ I say it without riddles and if that is not what I mean to say, and you read it from my choice of words, then it’s your perception, which I try not to be responsible for, as I apply simple and clear words in every communication.

I also try to understand that the environment and the people you are exposed to influences your mind, mental health and your perception about everything. This simply means, there are factors that controls perception which is beyond the speaker or writer.

In all you do, be kind in your choice of words, don’t belittle people’s effort and don’t be harsh. If you are constantly kind, there would be little room to perceive wrongly.