What A Difference A Perception Makes
By Beca Lewis
© 2005

Once I had a little yard that was filled with weeds. I
couldn't find time in my day to weed the yard so it got worse
and worse. One day without thinking I bent down as I walked
to the car and pulled a weed. On the way back into the house
I pulled a few more. Within a few weeks my yard was free of
weeds. One weed at a time made a difference.

Our landlady uses a walker. However, she tends a beautiful,
practical and constantly changing garden. She does it one
step at a time - literally. She never complains that she
moves so slowly or that she has to lean on her walker to bend
down to work in the garden, she just does it. One day we came
home to find her sitting on the porch with a paintbrush in
hand leaning from her chair to paint one section of the porch
at a time.

One stroke at a time made a difference.

I was trying to put ice cubes in my glass that had melted
slightly and then frozen together in lumps. I picked up a
lump and tried smashing it into the sink to break it apart
which was loud, messy and probably dangerous. It didn't work
anyway. Pausing I wondered if there was an easier way.
Still standing at the sink I ran water over the lump, which
easily broke it apart.

Asking if there was a better way made a difference.

Sometimes we forget that it is the little things that make a
difference. Three problems: too little time and too many
weeds, a house to keep up and hard to walk, a lump of ice too
big for a glass. The solution for all three was the same, a
shift of perception.

Problems are not fixed outside ourselves, because they exist
within our perception. Therefore, the only way to "fix" them
is to shift perception. Perception doesn't create a problem.
The perception IS the problem.

My perception was that I didn't have enough time to weed, so
I didn't. Our landlady could have the perception that she is
too old and too slow to make a difference in her house, she
doesn't.

When we identify with a limited perception of what is
possible we block or color the view of what is possible. This
is neither good nor bad, it is just perception. Whichever
perception or point of view we choose to begin with "creates"
what we experience. Not because we are creators, but because
we see what we believe. When we shift to an expanded
perception then our view is expanded and problems can
dissolve as easily as running water over a lump of ice.

There is only one choice to make. What perception to choose.
Since it is perception that makes the difference why not
choose the "best" one you can imagine? Why not choose the
perception that there is an infinite, loving, intelligent
All? Since "what you perceive and believe to be reality
magnifies," why not choose a Reality that is abundant,
loving, and effortless?

If we look at the "human" world it is mostly effort. If we
look at the spiritual world we discover that it is
effortless. But they are the same world. There is nowhere to
go, just a perception to shift. Every shift of perception, no
matter how small, makes a difference.

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would
appear to man as it is, infinite." William Blake

Sometimes it feels as if the doors of perception are closed
and we cannot see, let alone experience, the Infinite All.
There is a simple key that will unlock the door. It is
gratitude.

I was grateful I had a yard, our landlady is grateful for her
garden and her home. Gratitude is like the water on the ice
cubes. It flows over and around problems and melts them
effortlessly. Gratitude reveals the infinite supply that is
yours to use.

It takes no effort to be grateful. Perhaps that's why we
forget. Why not try it and feel the result. After all,
gratitude is what we are celebrating isn't it? Discover for
yourself what a difference a perception makes.

Shifting With You,
Beca
http://www.theshiftcenter.com