How Perception Affects Your Attitude

It should come as no surprise that, for different people, the perception of the same thing or situation could be completely different from one another. But how does that change one’s attitude?

For example, I can look at the snow falling outside and perceive it as an annoyance since for me, it means I will later have to be outside shoveling. For my son, on the other hand, he will probably look at the same snow outside and think: “Fun! I’ll be able to make a snowman today!”

It’s a simple example but when looked at closely it can explain a lot.

How a person reacts to an event is determined by a sequence of thoughts and feelings. When we take a step back, where do our thoughts come from, though? This is where perception comes in.

What is perception?

According to the Oxford dictionary, perception means “the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.”

On my example above, I realized it was snowing outside because I saw it using my vision sense that it was snowing when I looked outside the window. My thoughts of “oh no, it’s snowing again” followed. These thoughts provoked feelings, in my case, of apprehension (because I already had a number of things that needed to be accomplished on the same 24 hour day) and anxiety.

For my son, the same event (snowing outside) was also perceived by his sight sense, which formed the thought in his head (“Yay!”), and the feelings of joy and excitement.

Our perceptions, therefore, are composed by these sequence of events originating from one single circumstance, but have everything to do with our personal interpretation of the facts.

What influences our interpretation?

Our interpretation of events is a combination of our senses, past experiences, things we have learned, our personality and even our current state. Studies have shown that, if you are going to court to be judged on an infraction, how tired and hungry the judge is can influence the outcome regardless of the facts of the case remaining the same.

So even your perception of the same event could be different in different points in time! If, for example, my family had a contractor hired to do all the snow cleaning, or we lived in a building apartment and didn’t have property to clean snow off from, my perception of the snow falling outside would definitely be more positive.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I can choose to change that perception, if I want to, and if you have a similar situation you can think of, so can you.

How can we change our perception?

Going back to the snow outside (we are up to two inches as I type), there is a number of ways I could change my perception. Yes, I (and my husband) will need to be working outside to clear it up when it stops. But this will probably be the only chance I’ll have today to do some physical exercise, and that is a good thing. It is also good if I remember all I need to do is to clear our trampoline, which means it will keep the snow from straining the springs and make it last longer (yes, if you own an outdoor trampoline and it snows a considerable amount, you should be cleaning it, if you want to properly maintain it).

So I could look outside and have a different perception (and reaction) from the fact that it is snowing. The good news is, it is my choice! So if I choose to be annoyed by it, and to moan and complain, it’s on me.
I mean, it does look like winter wonderland outside and I have to admit it is pretty. 😊

Where changing perception affects my attitude

By now, hopefully you have connected the dots: the perception we have is a process that involves our senses and our formed opinions. We get to chose the thoughts we have about a given situation after it is brought to our awareness. Once we decide what our thoughts will be: positive, or negative; we will feel a certain way according to our thoughts.

What we then decide to do, or our response to it, will also be in accordance to our thoughts and feelings. The point in the process we have control over, is on what to think, or how to interpret the facts.

With my renewed view of what it means to be snowing outside, I can change my attitude towards it. I can almost wish it would snow 3 times a week at regular intervals so I can keep up with an outdoor exercising routine in the winter, which would probably never happen if it depended on my initiative! Also, my son usually follows me to have a snowball fight and we always end up laughing a lot (and with snow getting in our clothes) every time, and it is fun.

So there you go – I have actually been able to, as a summer lover, turn my attitude around a freezing winter event from a negative to a positive one. And I really can take a moment now and just enjoy the beauty of the snow falling. It is not even like I don’t have a dry and warm place to watch it from, with a heat system, hot water and hot food.

Looking at the situation from a point of view of gratitude also helps – a lot.

What’s next?

Sometimes, things we perceive as negative happen in our lives but when we look back, we see what good came out of them. I lost my job in the 2009 recession, just to find a new and better one later that I held for 11 years.

I am not saying every bad thing that happens to us has a happy ending. However, when it’s not over (and if we’re alive, it’s not over), and we have a chance, why not give it a chance and choosing to see the potential bright side?

What situations do you feel negative about, that you can use these tips to turnaround your attitude to a more positive one? Let me know in the comments.