By Aquila A Taite
My father has been gone for about 14 years now but I still remember our time together just like it was yesterday. He really taught me how to believe anything was possible. My dad brought me my first keyboard, sewing machine, and typewriter. He took me to the studio for the first time and anytime I changed my mind about what I wanted to be when I grew up he never discouraged me, he just did his best to make sure I could accomplish my goals. I say all of this to make the point that our perception of the world and ourselves is formed at home. Not only do we learn how to walk and talk from our parents but we also learn how to see the world and ourselves. We learn what type of people to be from our parents and that includes how we handle situations. The way we handle the things that happen in our lives determines the quality of life we will have. My parents taught me to trust in God and that is one of the most useful things anyone has ever taught me. My parents also taught me to have faith. To teach means to instruct by precept, example, or experience. We learn by seeing so we should make sure when people see us the content of our character is something worth imitating.
Life is all about your state of mind. Like the title says, perception is everything. The way you look at a situation can change the situation all together. You can’t let your circumstances determine your mood. You must keep a positive outlook on life and believe that trouble don’t last always. I take the bad times and perceive them as lessons, forcing myself to see the good in a not so good situation. People will try to pollute your mind and kill your spirit but you can’t let them get the best of you. You know who you are and what you are capable of. You have to make yourself happy; when you are happy within yourself people can’t steal your joy because you’ve taken away their power to do so. Happiness and Sadness is a state of mind and we must be careful about the state our mind is in.
Sometimes in life it’s hard to tell the real from the feel (a good friend told me that), meaning that you let your feelings get in the way of reality. It’s not your fault though; it’s hard to distinguish reality from the way you feel because how you feel is your reality. Your feelings can sometimes distort your perception of things. You have to be careful about the people you allow to be in your life because of this very reason. Other people’s feelings and perceptions can rub off on you misery loves company. Even the people that love you may not understand what God has for you and because they don’t understand they can often be negative and not realize it. A lot of people want to be logical when God is asking you to be spiritual. You are the only constant in your life therefore you are the jury and the judge. I believe you have to put yourself first, not meaning being selfish but just being true to yourself. There is no one in the world that will love you or do more for you than yourself. No one knows you better than yourself. You have your best interest in mind so trust you. Forget how everyone else feels about you and focus on how you feel about you because that’s real.
You are destined for greatness, you have to feel it and that feeling has to push you to want more, more out of life, more out of relationships and more out of yourself. Average just isn’t good enough anymore you must be extraordinary. I’m sure if you took a good at yourself and the things you are capable of doing and accomplishing you will discover you aren’t living up to your potential. Ask yourself why not? Life is what you make it. In life you let others put you down and make you believe you need them when in reality you are equipped from birth with everything you need to succeed. You don’t believe in yourself because you are to busy believing in the people around you. You are waiting for someone else to change your circumstances. Everyone is looking for a hero. What gives other people the ability to change your life? What makes you think God didn’t give you the same abilities as anyone else in the world? Why do you believe the naysayers in your life? Why do you continuously give other people the authority to define who you are? You have to change the way you see yourself. Your views on life must change; you have to change your perception of things. You must see your situation in a new light and you have to use that to elevate yourself into the greatness that you know is within your reach. Let today be your new beginning, change how you do things, and change how you see things. Some only see problems while others see solutions. Ask yourself are you going to make lemonade with those lemons? Or are you going to go through life sour? They say if you do the same things you get the same results, but I say if you see things the same way it doesn’t matter what you do because you have already lost in your mind.
Aquila is an author and songwriter.
