When Our Perspectives Fail Us

A common mistake we all make is thinking our perspectives or opinions are facts.

Facts do not alter no matter how to we look at it, no matter from which angle, how we are feeling and so on. A fact is: the sun rises in the east. No matter how we want to twist it or feel about it, it doesn’t change the fact that the sun does rise in the east. Every single day.

The thing is nothing is as consistent as the sunrise. And what trails far behind inconsistently are our perspectives and feelings/emotions about people, places, things.

Our perspectives no matter strongly we feel about it, or what we think we are seeing, is just not fact. When we argue based on our perspectives or emotions, the chances of us coming across as unsound is really high. We just sound like we are ranting, or just behaving childishly. This is not a mistake we want to make in a professional environment.

We may want our air time in our social circles where we know we will not be judged but supported. But at the same time, if we do too much of these, we may get ostracised too from our friends. Only really close friends will tell us the truth, that we have gone nuts with irrational ranting and it is time to think straight. No one else will do this for us, it takes courage because there is a risk that they will reject us. So do appreciate our strongest social allies for their honesty because it is through their courage that we win.

Other situations where we may be tempted to think that our perspectives/emotions are facts is when there is picture evidence. Pictures NEVER tell the truth, no matter how we want to believe that a “picture paints a thousand words”. These days a photo simply means capture of one second of the situation or circumstance, and with editing apps, we never know! A picture is simply a capture of ONE perspective of the situation. What is not captured are the other infinite perspectives of the situation. Still, a picture is not a fact.

Have you caught yourself in these types of situations where you think what you see is based on facts only to be proven wrong? I am sure many of you have, just as I have caught myself too. I remember a time when I thought a friend of mine was lying to me only to realise that I didn’t have the full picture of what was going on, and eventually I realise that he was actually helping me out. I felt really bad for thinking this way about him, and I apologised to him later on for thinking that way. But he brushed it off saying it is a non-matter. What a relief!

What I have learned in this situation is that: what I feel and what I think, may not be the truth. And it is wiser to let things stew for a bit, to ask questions, to gain more insights about the situation, and not jump to conclusions. Most of all, fact-checking is really key to clarity.