Thread by @harrydaniyan

PERCEPTION

She sat on the balcony, reading a novel. She just finished her first year on campus and was home on vacation. She was eighteen, living with her parents in a block of flats.
She looked down and saw the scene.
Again.
Her neighbors were going out...

The man opened the door for the wife to enter the vehicle.
She always sat at the back, in the “owner’s corner”, carrying their 6 month old son.
The husband slid into the driver’s seat and drove off.
This scene played out at least twice every week, and it always upset her!

That woman must be a witch! I wonder how she jazzed her husband to turn him into her driver. Wicked Jezebel! Poor man.
She would imagine ways she could help the husband exert his authority and break the evil spell the wife had cast on him…

A decade later, she got married and had a daughter.
Soon, she needed to take her daughter to the hospital for immunization.
Her husband opened the rear door or her to sit with the baby.
He got behind the wheel and drove off.
Half way to the hospital, she started laughing!

She laughed so hard, tears streamed down her eyes. Her husband parked the vehicle. “Babe, what is the matter? Are you alright?” She managed to pause and said, “Naaa- I’m ok, I just remembered something that happened over a decade ago and it reminded me of my foolishness!

Her perception of the incident had changed. As a teenager, the woman who sat in the back seat was a witch. Ten years later, she got wiser.

PERCEPTION.

He sat in the train, deep in tought. His 2 boys were running up and down the coach, shouting, laughing and generally causing a nuisance for other commuters who were trying to read or have a quiet moment. He seemed to be oblivious of the noise his sons were making.

The other commuters got very upset. One said, “Sir! Could you please quieten your boys? Can’t you see they’re a nuisance to everybody?” The man didn’t respond. He was in a world of his own. Another commuter tapped his hand angrily: “Hey, dude! Handle these boys, please!

They’re making too much noise!”
The man just broke down and started weeping! “Sorry, please! We’re just coming from the hospital. My wife, their mum just passed away. They’re still unaware. I am just thinking how to tell them, how I will cope as a single parent…”

Immediately, the anger in that train coach disappeared!
Sympathy took over!
“Sorry, sir! That’s very unfortunate!”
The eyes that saw those 2 boys running around as pests started seeing them differently...

The minds that were angry at those 2 boys a minute ago for the noise they were making started feeling pity for them.
All because they got an INFORMATION they didn’t have before.

PERCEPTION.

My late father used to say, “Whatever issue you meet, do not be quick to pass judgement. Always have it at the back of your mind that WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW IS ALWAYS MORE THAN WHAT YOU KNOW.”

Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 13:44:
A man saw some treasure in a field.
He went to sell all he owned to raise money to buy the field.
Imagine for a moment how those who saw him selling off his possessions (probably at giveaway prices) would've been wondering what he was up to.

They would've thought he was mad.
Let's see what he is up to…
He sold his car, clothes, shoes, furniture, and electronics. He raised about 5 million naira and he went to buy a plot of land in the outskirts of Zungeru or Kaura Namoda!
They would believe he had been bewitched!

Somebody must have jazzed him, they would say.
But when they realize he knew there was treasure worth a billion on the property, it would dawn on them they judged him wrongly. Now they realize he's not as mad as they had imagined! He's actually very smart!

How often do we perceive things wrongly, without knowing it? We all have different opinions about issues.
Our perception is basically a function of our age, understanding, wisdom, exposure, temperament, conditioning and upbringing.

Even our understanding of Scriptures is based on all these.
I have met people who say, “the Bible says a woman should not wear trousers!” or, “the Bible says money is the root of all evil!”
It’s not the Bible saying anything: it’s their exposure, understanding and conditioning...

That’s why a Nigerian Christian will not wear trousers in Nigeria, but will start wearing when she relocates to Canada.

When I see anyone holding a strong opinion on any issue, rather than condemn him/her, I simply try to see why he/she holds that opinion...

What is the reason behind it?
Nobody is born with any bias, prejudice or stupidity: they're learned.
The only difference is, some are broadminded enough to jettison these biases as they grow older, while others refuse to- despite seeing that the world has grown beyond them...

Let's stop judging others when you have only 5% information about them.
That opinion we have about people or issues will almost always change when the information we have on it increases to 100%.
Truth be told, we're not half as important or as intelligent as we think...

What we don’t know is more than what you actually know.
Developing strong opinions or hypotheses based solely on what we know is not very intelligent.
In fact, it's actually very DUMB.

Don't hold opinions or argue on things you don't have full information about...

It will not portray you in good light.

PERCEPTION.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American Philosopher went to a party with one of his proteges. As he mixed with his friends and colleagues, the protege asked, "sir- I can see some of my agemates in that corner. May I go join them?"

"No, son. Stay here with me", Ralph replied.
"But why, sir?" protege asked.
Ralph responded with a wry smile, "It's better for them to wonder why you didn't come to join them than for them to wonder why you did."

We can be smarter, we can do better!

Shalom.
Haruna Daniels
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