You Choose Your Shoes

You Choose Your Shoes

So I’ve been thinking about perspective a lot lately. Perspective is a funny thing. No matter what, it is a subjective choice that we each make with every situation. Perspective isn’t given - it’s taken. 

We’ve all heard the phrase, “perception is reality.” And while this is mostly true, it’s not completely true. I’d like to add just one little word to make it more correct. Perception is your reality. You see, your perception doesn’t get to determine, dictate, or define someone else’s reality. Or at least their perceived reality. Perception is your reality; not the reality. 

Now I’m not talking about truth or facts. This can easily be misguided. Even the same data can be skewed this way or that way. Facts and truth can still be argued over validity or application, but the argument’s side is still based off someone’s perception. Every court case has the same facts on display. The same exhibits can bring a guilty or innocent verdict - through perception. 

Two truths about perspective - we all have one. It is simultaneously immutable and flexible. We will always have a perspective - that makes it immutable. But we have the ability to change our perspective. Which brings the second truth - from perspective comes perception. 

How you see is how you think. Perspective  and perception are very much interrelated, but they are not the same. And they absolutely both influence the other. How you see is how you think. And how you think is how you see. 

Here’s an example… how you perceive is how you receive. Through perception, you can infer what was never implied. You can see something that was never there. You can walk in something that was never put down. Glasses are a perspective that you choose to view through. 

Another example I’d like to give is God’s ability to fail. If we believe that God is infallible and incapable of failing, do we keep that perspective when situations go a different way than we wanted them to go? If God can’t fail then he can’t fail us. But we can choose a perspective of disappointment because He didn’t give us either what we wanted, or when, or how. 

Because, if we’re being honest here, we often times confuse what we walk through with what we walk in. Glasses are a perspective - but so are shoes. And what you wear wears you - it wears you down if you let it. Perspective is exactly that. 

The psalmist wrote that “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” The Word of God shows both where you are and where you’re going. But no matter what, you choose your shoes. You choose how you perceive the lamp to your feet and the light to your path. Perspective says it’s not bright enough or you can’t see far enough - or that it’s just enough. 

Another point about perception is this: make your percept a precept. Make His precept your percept. The Word of God should be the lens through which you view the world, society, and culture. Culture should not be the lens through which you view the Word of God. 

We’ve all heard the old phrase that the glass is half full or half empty. Either way, no matter what, the glass is half of its potential. 

You choose what you walk in, not what you walk through. You may not always choose what you walk through, but you always choose what you walk in. You don’t walk through victory, you walk in victory. You don’t walk through love, you walk in love. 
You choose your shoes. 

No matter the situation, you choose how you view it. Choose carefully. Choose wisely.