Perception

per-cep-tion : 1. The process, act, or or faculty of perceiving. 2. The effect or product of perceiving. 3. The awareness of the external world, or some aspect of it, through physical sensations and the interpretation of these by the mind.
Perception, to me, is a filter, a filter that colors every event, and makes it impossible to clearly view each moment. Every experience we have ever had is mixed into this filter, and those experiences color our view. This is why two people can experience the same event and each relate that experience to another in entirely different points of view. We see this all the time in parent child relationships. A child 's perception is so different from a parents. A parent rarely does anything to intentionally hurt or wound a child, and yet the child is wounded by the parents action and perceives it as hurt. How many times did you tell your parents you hated them, or that they were the meanest in the whole world? And yet, when you become the parent, and hear those words, they wound only slightly, because you know what your intent was, and it wasn't to hurt, but possibly to teach.
I wonder what our lives would be like if we could turn that filter off? If we could see another's actions, not through our perceptions but with our hearts, would we spend as much time being hurt, feeling left out, or different? Would we compare ourselves to others, and find our selves lacking? Would we fight and bicker over meaningless things with those we love and care for? Or would we see the intent behind the action? If we stopped and tried to adjust our point of view before we reacted, or judged, or assumed intent, would we be happier, more secure in ourselves? Would we discover more friends? There is an Indian saying about walking a mile in another's moccasins. If we truly bore one another's burdens, would the colors in our filter fade? My hope is that it is so. That if we do as President Benson said, and "try a little harder, to do a little better" that the colors of our internal filter will fade and we will learn to see clearly with the heart.