Most of us like to think that we see the world the way it truly is, that what we perceive to be is reality, plain and simple. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That’s because we all have a pair of glasses that determines the way we see the world. Our ‘prescription’ was created during our childhood, formed by the adults around us, the stories they told us and we re-told in some version to ourselves.

Because it is all we have ever known, it is all too easy not to question it and assume it is fixed, an unchangeable given. However, as we work to grow and better understand others and ourselves, when we are willing to embark upon an inner journey of self-discovery, when we are willing to listen to learn and truly hear the heart stories of others, we learn there are many ways to look at the world and the ‘prescriptions of our glasses’ powerful impact what we see and thus how we react and the emotions we create in response.

Do you recognize any of the ‘prescriptions’ below? (List courtesy of ChatGPT) Most of us have some combination thereof and in varying strengths.

  • Optimist Glasses → Everything looks like an opportunity
  • Pessimist / Cynic Glasses → Everything looks like a threat or scam
  • Victim Glasses → Everything is someone else’s fault
  • Growth Glasses → Every challenge is a chance to learn
  • Scarcity Glasses → There’s never enough
  • Abundance Glasses → There’s plenty if you look for it
  • Political / Ideological Glasses → Everything is filtered through left/right, us vs. them
  • Trauma Glasses → Hyper-vigilant for danger or rejection

How aware are you of your prescription? Can you truly take off your glasses? Be truly and fully aware of how your culture, background, and upbringing shape your perceptions? I have found traveling overseas and visiting non-western cultures extremely eye-opening.

Closing Quotes:

“We see the world through the glasses of our own conditioning.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

“We see the world, not as it is, but as we are—or, as we are conditioned to see it.” – Stephen Covey

“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.” – Marshall McLuhan

“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are — and we are rarely aware of the ‘as we are’ part.”– Anaïs Nin

As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier

Note: Every effort has been made to properly source any 3rd person material. I am, however, a voracious reader. If anyone finds any unattributed material, pls let me know asap and I will be delighted to give credit where credit is due.
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832