Our World View Shapes Our Experience
We all have an individual world view. Our view of the world can be big picture or a series of details, much depends on our psychological make-up, experiences, beliefs and ideas about the world. As individuals we are all unique in this respect and world views are individual, so no matter how much we try, we can never completely see the world the same as another. Empathy and compassion can help us to do this by virtue of “walking in another shoes”, or “seeing things through their point of view” for example. But you can never ever have the exact same experience as another because of our different world views.
Over the years my own world view has changed considerably, as has the world at large. Much of this is taken as read because mostly we believe the world is happening to us and our perceptions change. Take for example the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. For me as a child; the Berlin Wall starkly defined the huge gap between communism and capitalism. The falling of the Berlin Wall signalled the end of communism as we knew it, and collectively many of us changed our world view as a result. On a micro level, my various life experiences, having children, divorcing, hitting rock bottom, and the amazing high’s I’ve experienced have all shaped my world view, and I’m sure similar life events have shaped yours.
And so life goes on, each of us experiencing our world views and often trying to get others to see things from our view point, or trying to convince others we are right.
For many years I have searched for truth and while the world is an ever changing place, there are some truths I have discovered, which may well seem obvious, but often they don’t always permeate our world view. These truth’s if truly embraced can shape your world view for the better.
The human form in all ways is transient
Nothing in our physical world lasts forever. That might seem obvious, but if you really think about it, you will realise that for many of us our whole world view is based on a resistance to this fact. We vest our energies and resources into achieving goals, or preserving our fortunes, or our relationships which don’t work, or we pour our efforts into maintaining a physical environment, which will either change naturally or we will pass on. Many of you may well think that is a stark and depressing truth, but actually if we can adjust our world view to embrace this truth, then our lives will be changed forever. Think of a world where we can connect, enjoy and when the time comes, let go of our physical possessions and companions, remembering and celebrating the time we had. Instead, we grasp, attach ourselves to , resist the passing of; money, possessions and relationships and other physical forms.
We are observers who believe we are perceivers
“All the world is [indeed] a stage” (Shakespeare) Expanding on that analogy we are like actors in a play. We are in there acting out the drama and experiencing and perceiving the world through the current scene we are involved in. We judge others because of their beliefs or actions, we feel afraid of what might be coming next and so we erect huge defences to stop horrible things happening. Someone speaks harshly to us and we take it personally and never again will we perceive that person as “safe”. We believe the world is being done to us and so we have learned to “perceive” our reality. If you imagine being in a film theatre and being immersed in the film and when you are watching it, nothing else exists for you, that’s how we have become immersed in our world. A good way to simply understand this truth is to just for a few moments a day, take a psychological step back and look at what you are doing. Look at what you are thinking. When you are able to view your life like its a movie, even for short periods of time, you come to the realisation, that who you really are is the observer of your life, not the participant.
We learn to see the world differently through our experiences therefore we are experiential learners
Our beliefs, world view and our ideas will never change unless we experience something which gives us cause to change things. I was a fairly successful mother of 3 kids, who was able to cope with most things life threw at me, until my beliefs, ideas and feelings about the world caused me to lose everything. I couldn’t believe what happened, and was angry and resentful for months. I realised though that without that experience, I would not have begun the search within and taken full responsibility for my experience in the world. I used to think that experiences shaped our world, but actually it is our inner world view, beliefs, thoughts and feelings which are creating our experiences. Our experiences are therefore gifts to help us to change our inner world to create and think again. We know intellectually many things, but we rarely change things for the better until we experience something to motivate us to understand there must be another way. The change always, always is created within first.
Our lives only have the meaning we choose to give it
Viktor Frankl the renowned author and holocaust survivor in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, observed men who had understandably given up and who had decided life held nothing more for them, and it struck Frankl as a terrible mistake, even in those situations where life seemed so hopeless. “We are not here to judge life according to what we expected from it and what it has delivered” – rather, he realised, “we must find the courage to ask what life expects of us, day by day “What Frankl did in those unimaginable times in that concentration camp was to look within and take even such a terrible situation and turn it into a learning experience. This example may seem extreme, but on a daily basis we are giving meaning to events in our lives. We react and our thoughts and feelings act on what we decide these events mean for us. It starts early in childhood. Our parents scream at us when we are running towards the road. Of course they just want to keep us safe, but without understanding that concept, we believe we are bad. Someone at work stops speaking to you, and we wonder what you’ve done wrong, or we get shouted at by the boss and we feel anger and resentment. We are always, always providing the meaning to such events, and we can always think again, make up a different meaning and change our experience.
Our inner world creates our outer world
We have it the wrong way round. We think that we are victims in a cruel and harsh world. But the truth is that it is our inner world which creates the experience of our outer world. At all times we are projecting our beliefs, ideas and feelings onto “the stage”. You might pooh-pooh books such as “” which describe how our thoughts and awareness can actually “attract” circumstances and “things” in our lives. As we become more conscious of what is in our unconscious minds, or aware of what we don’t know, these concepts don’t seem as outlandish, and the findings of quantum science become a step nearer to acknowledging the power of our minds. Ghandi’s famous quote “to be the change you want to see” is foundational to this concept. If you want to see a loving, compassionate world, then that’s what you must become.
So there you have 5 truths I have uncovered on my search. I’d be really interested to find out if you’ve any to add!
