The other day I was perusing the web and came across a nice little quote that touched on the topic of perception...

"Little pot, do not call the kettle black until you have been in the fire as long as he has!"

Now this was of course altered from the well-known idiom "Pot calling the Kettle black". For those who are not familiar with the original idiom it was used to accuse another speaker of hyprocrisy. It was quite easy, even as a child first hearing it, to understand the concept.

The new quote manifested from the original got me thinking for a moment however. What is it actually suggesting? I first tried posting this newly discovered quote on facebook to see if others would understand to the same extent. However, I only recieved comments of confusion in words that I will not repeat here :s

In a new attempt to bring this self motivating quote of perception to realization I had decided to post my own understanding of the matter on facebook. From what I can see there are a few words that jump out at me by reading it.

PERCEPTION
JUDGMENT
CHALLENGE
UNDERSTAND
GROW
LEARN
RESPECT


If your own PERCEPTION results in JUDGMENT of another person, before you judge, CHALLENGE yourself to UNDERSTAND and you may GROW and LEARN to RESPECT.

After I posted my understanding of the quote I still recieved a few "What is this all about?" comments, but then others would interject with more positive comments of understanding and acceptance.

You see, coming from a "mixed" household I personally face negative judgment from relatives and other outside forces. Mixed in the sense of ethnicity. My mother is German/Irish/Swedish and my father is Pakistani. I am sure there are MANY that are judged for these and other reasons. I also judge and have judged, but its all about perception. It doesn't matter if you are the person being discriminated against or if you are the discriminator himself.

This quote from a personal point of view was telling me that before I point at the people that I PERCIEVED to have a negative affect on my personal well-being to instead Challenge myself and Understand what they have been through themselves, what made them do the things they have done, and what made them say the things that they have said.

We simply assume that the way we Percieve things is the way they really are or the way they should be... and our attitudes and behaviors grow out of these assumptions.

Now am I saying that their own perception is correct? No, of course not. I am just saying that our own perception of certain people and certain situations is holding us back from our own personal growth. In order to learn and grow you have to first understand and overcome perception.

I just wanted to share this small self-revelation as we continue on the path towards the Global Economy where many forms of perception exist.