In the midst of a heated political campaign, we can become caught up in seeing people through a particular lens – in the case of the current presidential campaign, the lens of what’s wrong with the other person.  Example after example arises of why we should be afraid of, mistrust, or otherwise not like one person or the other.  These examples create a lens through which we view these people and the world.

This dynamic got me to thinking about the ways in which we inevitably generate and keep alive lenses we use to perceive ourselves and the world all the time, everyday.  We can’t help but see the world through some kind of lens or another.  Our beliefs, experiences, hopes and fears all shape the way we interpret world events and personal moments.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to pay attention to the lenses you bring into your experience and to play an active role in choosing the quality of lens you want to use to perceive your world.  For example, if we were looking, together, at a glass filled up halfway with water, we would have two choices.  We could see the glass as half full, or we could see it as half empty.  Both would be true.  What’s important is to experience the quality of our experience generated by each perception.  In a half-full world, we tend to experience possibility and optimism.  In a half-empty world, we lean toward an experience of lack, which can generate anxiety and fear.

As you play with this week’s experiment, notice what happens when you perceive yourself and your world with a half-full state of mind and then with one that leans in the direction of the half-empty side of things, focusing first on what’s going right and then on what’s going wrong.  As you go back and forth between these two fundamentally-different perceptions, notice your emotional responses, the sensations you feel in your body, and the general quality of your lived experience.

As is true with all these experiments, there’s no right or wrong answer, no right or wrong perception.  Instead, there’s an opportunity to explore how you participate in shaping the quality of the perceptions you have of your internal and external worlds.   Becoming conscious of these choices and their impact on you offers you the option to change the lens through which you experience yourself and your world in a way that enhances your quality of life. 

Remember, you aren’t lying to yourself when you choose a half-full perspective nor when you choose one that’s half-empty.  With the first, you’re choosing to look on the more optimistic side of what’s present and taking some time to notice the effect this has on you and, with the second, you’re looking at what’s out of place, lacking, or not right about your world or your experience.  Both are true and each plays a powerful role in the quality of your internal experience as you move through your daily life.