Perception

10/27/11

Affirmation:  I am valued.  I am worthy.  I do well.

Steve Jobs founder of Apple, died in October of 2011.  Two weeks later, a biography written by Walter Isaacson was released.  He was also interviewed on 60 Minutes.  Certainly, this was a unique man.  He changed the face of IT and the way the world saw and used all sorts of technological equipment.  From reading about and listening to stories about Mr. Jobs, it becomes very obvious that he thought very differently than most of the world.  A phase that has appeared quite often is “skewed reality.”  He saw things a certain way and his perception was his reality. 

I know that’s true for most of us but there are several lessons to take away from the story of his life.  Because he created his own reality, when he was told something could not be done, he didn’t believe it and so he found a way to get it done anyway.   That’s why we now have I Phones and I Pads and several other ingenious creations.  So, his “skewed reality” served him quite well in the business world but it didn’t serve him well in his personal life.  He refused to believe his girlfriend’s baby girl was his child.  It took 16 years and a paternity test before he’d acknowledge his child.  He also refused to believe he needed to be treated for pancreatic cancer in a timely fashion.  He was so sure he knew his body better than the physicians who specialized in this horrible disease that he chose to treat himself.  He was wrong.  Oh, I understand looking for alternative treatments for cancer but sometimes, we need expert advice.  We need it and we need to adhere to it if we are to truly take care of ourselves. 

One of the stories about Steve Jobs is that as a child when confronted by another child about his adoption, he became very upset.  The other child asked him how it felt to know he was abandoned by his birth parents.  His adopted parents gave the perfect answer to his question of abandonment.  They explained to him that they had chosen him from all the other children in the world.  For most of us, that would be enough to help us feel better and to value ourselves.  Steve Jobs took it to a whole new level.  He said from that moment on he knew he was not abandoned, he was CHOSEN.  Wow! 

What do you think you might have accomplished with your life if you believed from the moment you could reason, that you were chosen.  What do you think you’d feel like today, if you believed you are chosen?  It’s amazing to me that some people no matter how they’re told they are of value, they are loved, they are worthy, choose not to believe it.  It’s amazing to me that simply by changing the perception of a concept, we can change the way we respond to it.  Of course, we are chosen, each and every one of us.  We have been chosen by the greatest Father of all time. 

I watched on TV a young woman speak about her disastrous financial status because of an adjustable rate mortgage.  She was losing her “home.”  She was devastated.  Suzie Ormond spoke with her for a while and then explained to her that she had not lost her home.  She still had her three children with her and she still had her job.  She had lost her “house.”  Her home was wherever she and her children were.  It was like a light went on in this woman’s body.  Her whole demeanor changed within just a few minutes.  I know she was still facing a very sad and difficult situation, but it was so clear, that by seeing it in a different light, she was already feeling stronger, valuable and worthy.

What we choose to say to ourselves affects every aspect of our lives.  Certainly we need to do a reality check.  We can’t claim to be 6” taller when we know we aren’t growing anymore.  But, if our self talk is rational we can claim just about anything we want to.  We can claim to be joyful, peaceful, healthy, generous, kind, loving, prosperous, talented, accomplished, charismatic.  Find the words you want to claim for your life.  Find them, write them out and let them permeated every cell of your being.  Once day, you will look around and realize those words are you.  Choose carefully, dream large.