The Way We Look At Things

As most of us know, the way we look at things strongly influences the way things look.

If you look for things that are wrong with whatever you are looking at you can usually find plenty. After all you are looking through your filter that defines what wrong and right look like. It?s easy to find verification for any viewpoint, whether negative, positive or neutral.?The unfortunate thing for most of us, much of the time, we are unaware that we are looking through our own filter.

Where do our filters come from?

Our filters are developed and strengthen over time. As you might guess they start with our DNA and some are in place before we draw our first breath of air. They continue to build from that point forward. As our parents take actions to support us as we begin to grow, we notice every action and begin to develop filters based on actions we take and responses we get. This process continues and we are strongly influenced by immediate family, relatives and close friends. Before we know it we are meeting other children our age and getting more input and developing more filters which will ultimately become the way we see the world around us. This process continues, in fact it never stops; however, as we get older we are now looking through our filters and looking for verification that our viewpoint is the right one and we can always find verification. As we find verification for our viewpoint the neural pathways become stronger and stronger and we become more and more convinced that our viewpoint is correct.

So what?s the big deal about filters?

The big deal about filters is we are unaware of many of them and they. dictate or at least guide. our behavior. The issue is really that this same process of filter development has gone on in the development of everyone around us and their DNA and exposure has been different than ours in many ways and their viewpoint and world view may be very different than ours. Who is right and what is the real truth? You can wrestle with the answer to that one yourself.

Why am I bringing this up now?

I?m bringing this up now because my world view is telling me that we have too much negativity and hate at a time when we need to be positive, upbeat and supportive of everything we can. The seemingly unending month of the race for president created so much negativity it was unbelievable. The election result has created another batch of negativity and fear. Remember, everybody was watching the endless months of campaigning through their own filters and we are all viewing the result with those same filters. I?m not suggesting that anyone?s worldview is better or worse that anyone else?s, I?m just pointing out that each of us may be viewing the current circumstances as a different reality.

Consider taking the high road. Let some cards be played and observe the results before worrying about what?s next. Try to install a filter that looks for positive results in everything. What if all of us decided to ignore all the negative stuff that is shoved at us every day and instead did a daily search for good news and good deeds. What if we went one step farther and led positive conversations and did good deeds ourselves?

We each have the opportunity to influence our futures and the steps we take to build our futures will have a big impact on everything. Consider building a positive first filter starting today. Life would look much better if we were able to filter out the negativity and focus on the positive.

Does this sound like a Pollyanna viewpoint? Perhaps it is but it?s worth considering.