Truth and Reality vs. Your Outlook and Perspective

Is Perception Reality?

Have you ever perceived something to be so objectionable that you took strong offense to any contrary opinion?  Typically, this is how it goes…

You look at the situation, which is so obviously egregious, and you’re convinced that your perspective is the only one that makes any sense.  Those who disagree with you are classified as morons who can’t comprehend simple logic.  You wonder endlessly how they could be so blind to the truth—so blind to reality.  And you never actually sit down to question whether your belief is a Universal truth or just your personal truth.  You don’t think about whether or not what you call reality is really just an observation based on your own limited perspective and lack of total awareness.

Don’t waste time denying it.  We’ve ALL done it.  I doubt if there are any human beings who have not been guilty of this multiple times throughout their lives.  We’re surrounded by causes and calls of action to make the world a better place.  But there is almost always an opposing point of view that begs you to see a very different reality.

Perception of Cruelty

Just today, I stumbled upon material related to the liberation of lobsters.  As I focused my attention on the cruel act of boiling these sea creatures alive in order to make them fit for human consumption, I felt a little sick.  I imagined what the lobster must think and feel.  I thought about my contribution to their torturous deaths.  I even imagined how I would feel if I was the one simmering over a high flame.  I’m very in tune with my emotions so I instantly noticed the change in my mood as these thoughts triggered feelings of guilt and unease.

The practice of boiling lobsters alive seems sadistic when you think of it from the point of view I have just shared.  But is it really as bad as I made it seem?  Well, that answer varies depending on who you ask.

The well-intentioned people at PETA, who are behind the Lobster Liberation Movement, barely fall short of defining lobster consumers as uncaring, immoral, barbaric monsters.  That is their extreme perspective.  It is their reality—their truth.  But the world is full of other points of view.

A Closer Look at Reality

So, here is something to think about.  Most animals, including humans, are carnivorous.  We eat meat.  And that means—a living being has to die in order to become a food source for another living being.  I know, I know…  it’s hard to have that mouth-watering taste for a 4 course meal when you think of it this way.  But just try to bear with me in this analysis.

When a lion hunts a gazelle, he doesn’t find a nice pleasant way to seduce her into dying.  He runs after the terrified prey, wildly attacks with a big chomp to the neck, and proceeds to devour the helpless being.

A hungry shark, whose mouth is full of teeth that were perfectly designed for tearing flesh, zooms in on a school of fish, opens his giant mouth, rips into his fish of choice, and eats the stunned sea creature alive.

Polar bears stalk and consume their favorite food by waiting at the seals’ breathing hole until presented with the perfect opportunity to yank the helpless animal from its home.

Coyotes hunt and kill prairie dogs.  Cute little white tailed deer are slaughtered by wolves.  I could go on and on but I think I’ve made my point.  Living things get eaten—and often they are eaten alive.  Not one of these “predators” stops to take a pulse or check for brain death before consuming the prey.  They hunt, stalk, debilitate, eat, kill, and ultimately consume a living being as a meal.

Widening a Limited Perspective

It is a simple fact of life that life sustains life.  So is it really bad?  Are foxes evil and heartless because they attack and eat furry little rabbits?  Are all animals cruel and barbaric?  Is a malicious motive or a cruel state of mind a part of the carnivorous plants, which trap and slowly digest living bugs?

I’m certain that it is unpleasant to become dinner.  But is this cruelty or is it just a part of life?  Is the world just designed for unfairness or is the larger picture just too much for a human being’s limited brain capacity to comprehend?  How much of what we think or feel about this is reality and how much can only be attributed to the point of view that we’ve chosen?  Before you formulate an answer, consider this:

Even vegetarians and animal rights activists take life from living things.  After all, something has to die in order to become a viable food source for another living being.  This doesn’t change just because that something is a plant or a plant part.  Just take a look at plant cells under a microscope and then ask yourself why nobody is rallying against eating vegetables.  What is the difference here?

With absolutely no moments of grieving for the plants, we can cut them down, dig them up, drive over them, cook them, cut them, eat them, freeze them, etc.

Further Analysis of Your Personal Truth

Is it a bit clearer how we all have different perspectives from which we draw the lines between right and wrong, fair and unfair, acceptable and inappropriate, sensible and excessive, just and unjust?  When you truly open your field of awareness to experience thinking from different perspectives, it is not so easy to decide what is right and what is wrong for the world.  Truth and reality look anything but concrete to an individual who considers opposing points of view.

With regards to lobsters and any other situation, I do have my own points of view.  However, I draw the line at judging those who make a different choice.  I believe that if something feels wrong in your heart, it is wrong for you at this time.  But that doesn’t make it the right or wrong thing for the rest of the world.

Remember, we can’t always change the minds of other people or the circumstances surrounding us, but we can always change the way we look at them.  Choose your perspective wisely and don’t set yourself up for disappointment by expecting everyone else to agree.

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Tagged as: Awareness, Emotions, Positive outlook, Positive thinking, Reality