The World Exists How You See It

I heard a really powerful parable last week that serves as a great example that the world exists how you see it.

There was an old, wise man sitting out in front of the gates of a city. A younger man walked up and asked “How are the people in the city? We’re thinking about moving into town.” The wise man responds with a question of his own. “What are the people like where you live now?”

To that the younger man responded “Pretty terrible. They’re unpleasant to be around, in it for themselves, and not friendly at all.” The wise man responds “I’m sorry to say that you’ll find the people in this city to be the same.”

Later that day, a young woman walks up to the wise man and says “I’m thinking of moving my family into town, how are the people in this city?” The wise man asks in return “What are the people like where you live now?”

The woman answers “The people are great! They’re kind, generous, and so nice to be around.” The wise man smiles and says “I’m pleased to say that you’ll find the people in this city to be the same.”

Things don’t exist as they are but as we perceive them to be. Our minds find evidence for whatever we choose to believe. If we believe things are going to work out for us, we’re more likely to find reasons to suggest that’s the case. If we believe we’re the victim of our circumstances, we’ll point out all of the reasons why things are so unfair. 

What’s true to us is subjective. Our reality is a highly filtered and curated version of everything around us. This means any issue you have with the world is yours, and it’s within your power to do something about it.

While your perspective is very influenceable and changeable, it’s the product of many years of experiences, conditioning, and feedback. Your mindset is your patterned way of thinking and it represents your unconscious patterns. You can consciously override negative thoughts in a moment, but disrupting the unconscious pattern takes much longer to do.

There are 3 foundational mindsets I believe each person will be better off if they had it. Click here if you want to know what the 3 foundational mindsets are and how to install them into your unconscious programming. 

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