Our Beliefs Filter Reality

Our beliefs filter reality for us. Ultimately, our beliefs become our reality.
Charlie Chaplin said: life is a tragedy from a close-up and a divine comedy from a distance.
Usually, when facing challenges we bring negative events closer and make them larger getting sucked into the roller coaster of emotions.
To us, life’s moments frozen in time may seem like unsolvable tragedies. Yet our world is not even the size of a piece of dust among millions of stars.
If the comedy of errors played out on our tiny planet were to be observed from a distance, they would all look so insignificant. The impact of the importance of our world is ridiculously nonexistent in the larger picture!
Do you want to keep your perspective and balance? Look through your binoculars holding them from the wrong end sometimes. You will distance and downsize objects. With a calmer brain, you will be a better problem solver. If necessary, turn down the volume and the heat of your thoughts, literally!

For example, a patient of mine believed that she could not find a job because she belonged to a certain minority group and was, therefore, being discriminated against. I brought it up to her attention that perhaps part of her problem was with the messages she sent out with her attitude and dress code. Perhaps, her punk look with pink and violet colored hair spiking up like the needles of a porcupine, chains hanging all over her tattooed body including her pierced tongue and nose scared the prospective employer. Her prompt reply was: it is because I am the one who is scared. I wear these things as protective shields for me! My heart went to this terrified child who built fences between her and the world mainly focusing on the effect others had on her. In therapy, it took a while for her to consider the effect she had on others, as well.
Our beliefs filter reality for us. Ultimately, our beliefs become our reality. Using different perspectives, looking from different angles, and distancing ourselves physically or mentally from situations may change our views on things.
Can you think of one example from your life where the negative impact of an event decreased as you looked at the same event from a different perspective? Let’s face it: what you see is not always what it is.
If you can come up at least with one example from your life where you challenged the negativity of an event by changing your point of view, then you are on the way to holding the secrets of staying upbeat!