Perception Is (Not) Everything

An almost two-year-old watched as his grandfather boarded an airplane in Kansas City and took to the air, bound for Texas. A week or so later, the child went with the family to the airport again to meet the traveler as he returned. On the way home, the boy seemed a little restless and perhaps concerned. Finally he asked, "Papa, how did they squeeze you?" He had watched his full-sized Papa walk out to the huge plane, but as it headed off into the sky, it became obvious to him that the plane and his Papa with it were growing smaller and smaller! Papa explained that distant things only appear to be small because they are far away from us. He and the other passengers sat in regular seats, and everything stayed the same size as always. The youngster was quite relieved to learn that Papa did not get squeezed at all! Because of his limited experience, his perception was narrowed to what he could see—and was therefore inaccurate.

A former employer told me, more than once, that when it comes to the people we serve, "Perception is everything," or as we often hear, the customer is always right. In the circumstances where we worked, that may have been perfectly good policy. But as you can see from the little story above, perception is not really everything. What people think is true becomes true for them, but that is not necessarily the same as the real truth. We could be as mistaken as the little boy who saw his grandpa disappear.

Do we believe everything we read in the newspaper or hear on the news, forgetting that those who write and speak are reporting their (or someone's) perception, which may or may not represent the facts accurately? Are we to accept without question every morsel of information about other people in our lives just because someone perceives it as the ways things are? And for ourselves, do we form into reality what someone else thinks we are worth? Do we accept as our destiny the sad prediction someone has made about our prospects for success? That is their perception, and may not be valid at all!

Yes, good customer service may well be driven by "Perception is everything." But caution and discrimination are needed if we really want to live in truth.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com