Perspective VS Reality

Your perspective determines YOUR reality but not necessarily THE reality.

I recently attended a beautiful wedding ceremony. All guests were seated and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the wedding party.

The celebrant then announced there was a “small complication” and asked “can anyone here tie a traditional bow tie?” The groom had underestimated the complexity of such a task.

My wife, without my consent, raised her hand above my head and pointed her index finger straight down👇🏼 on top of my bald dome 😬

The thing is, I haven’t tied a traditional bow tie for yeeeeeears let alone tied it whilst it was attached to somebody else’s neck. My mind was blank regarding how to tie such an advanced masterpiece.

I was ushered out back to where the groom was hiding. Upon my arrival, you can imagine my relief to see the groom was donning one beautifully executed bow tie!

Someone had already sorted it out for him. Success!

I gave it a quick tap and a “looks good to me” before making my way back to my seat. Job done.

For the rest of the evening, I had countless compliments and high 5s for “saving the day” and doing such “a great job” I corrected the first two people but after that I stopped trying and just let the praise wash over me.

Back to my first point. The perception (and quite understandably) was that I solved the problem. The guests saw me leave my seat, disappear out the back, and return a few minutes later followed by the groom with a mint-looking bow tie. The reality for most of those guests was that I did a wonderful job.

That wasn’t THE reality though. THE reality is that I did nothing. Nothing useful anyway.

The moral of this story? Be aware of how you choose to see yourself, others, your work, your relationships, your goals and even your life as a whole and ask yourself “how is this perspective impacting my reality?” and most importantly “ is it useful?”

How you choose to see will 100% be influencing YOUR reality, but that won’t always be THE reality.

Choose your perspectives consciously and carefully, my friends, and never underestimate this superpower you hold and the impact it can have on your results.