I used to think I couldn't trust my experience. 

Have you ever felt this way?

I was aware that the experience I was having was not necessarily objectively what was happening. 

And I wasn't sure what to do with that realization.

For example, I might question:

Did I detect a certain nasty tone in that person’s voice? Or am I just imagining that? 

Why did my husband tell the story that way? I was there. That’s not how it went down. Is it?

That person is staring at me…why, are they racist?

I often felt confused by my constant judgements, analysis and assumptions.

This brought me a lot of anxiety and unhappiness. I knew something needed to change. 

That something was me.

Now I recognize that every experience each of us is having is 100% real.

Yet, our patterned habits of thinking and acting distort our perceptions.

That means:

Everything we experience is to be accepted. 

and

how we perceive our experience can become clearer at any moment.

To avoid getting stuck in the darkroom of perceptual blindness, we can use wise principles as tools for self inquiry.

Because when your perception changes, it's only natural that your actions will too. 

 Here's a tool to help you see things differently:

change your point of view with variations.

Introducing variations into your usual routines wakes up your brain to something new, while offering a fresh perspective on the familiar. It's like discovering a new country and seeing home with new eyes.

How to Introduce Variations

A simple way to do this is by experimenting with human interactions by putting yourself in the other person's shoes.

For instance:

- Instead of thinking, "Did I detect a certain nasty tone in that person’s voice? Or am I just imagining that?" you can ask, "I wonder what's going on in her day?"

- Instead of questioning, "Why did my husband tell the story that way? That’s not how it went down,” try thinking, "That’s interesting…I wonder what else his experience was?"

- Rather than assuming, "That person is staring at me…why, are they racist?" consider, "I wonder what he is seeing, or if he is looking at me."

Variation sparks curiosity and opens the door to a change in perception.

While your experience is personal to you, what happens around you is not- we each our living in the cloudy dream of our own perception. Seeing the world from a different angle can turn a threatening environment into a playground that's generally less monstrous than you might have imagined.

Trying new things—whether it's food, places, thoughts or movements—awakens your mind and brings out your untapped potential for growth. Embrace variation right where you are, and expect to discover a whole new world there in front of you to be explored.

Where can you bring in  new variations to your usual habits this week?