If I could change one thing in the world, I would change people’s awareness.
We live in a world where absent from mind, means absent from reality. While this is not inherently anyone’s fault, it is a problem none the less. Our mind creates filters (beliefs) based on our perception of reality, and anything outside of those filters are difficult for us to accept as true.
It results in people suffering and being mistreated, but the world as a whole does not belief it because it does not align with their experiences and perception of reality.
It is why when someone commits a heinous crime, his or her closest family and friends have a difficult time accepting it as true. They say, “he would never do something like that” or “there must be some rational explanation for why she was there”. Sometimes they even go as far as to say they were framed or the media was jumping to conclusions. While this can definitely happen in today’s media, it is not always the case.
Sometimes our reality does not allow us to accept any the most concrete facts.
Our filters are part of the reason we have such a difficult time making sense of politics. Everyone can watch the same debate, hear the same responses; yet, everyone is able to draw their own conclusion. The beliefs we brought into the debate, created our determination of who won, whether the questions were fair, and if the time was equally divided among the candidates.
Have you tried talking to someone about the debate or scrolled down your Facebook feed?
Although the results may be anything but conclusive, the reactions in your feed are. If you know your friends political leanings, you know exactly how they see each debate. The lack of awareness we all have create a world where we believe we are being rational, reasonable, and unbiased in our interpretation of the facts; but it is simply not true. The world would be a much better place if we were all more aware of what others are going through.
How Do We Increase Awareness?
- Avoid Complacency. The best way to generate awareness is to constantly challenge your perception of reality. The best way I have found to do this is to vigorously defend a position and then vigorously oppose the position I just defended. This forces my mind to accept the possibility that the other person is right and my reality is not necessarily the end all, be all.
- Continually Access The Situation. I often hear people reference someone’s actions from 10–20 years ago and use that to explain who they are today. I also see this done with businesses. Where someone says they visited this place once and it was awful, so they never went back. Take the time to update your information. People change all the time and businesses make management and directional changes too.
- Leave Your Comfort Zone. If you want to INCREASE your awareness, start by EXPANDING your awareness. The less you know, the more you have to rely on stereotypes and other people’s information. By experiencing life first hand, you increase the likelihood your perception is fluid and flexible; not accepting everything as true, but able to understand YOUR world is not THE world.
- Respect Others. Let’s be honest, most of the time it comes down to respect. If you respect the other person, you are more likely to consider their point of view. If you do not respect them, the likelihood of you believing them is slim. If you take a moment to be humble, you will find everyone has something to offer. Everyone is an expert on something, if you only take the time to listen.
I would love to hear your answer. Leave a comment or email me at: undre@69.167.167.141
Continued blessings,
Undre Griggs | Be More | Forecast Hope