Kay:
Hey, there Questers! Happy FriYAY!
Shi:
Friyayyyy!
Kay:
It is August 21st, and this is Episode 165. Today’s quote is, “It’s not reality that shapes us, but the lens through which we view the world that shapes our reality.”
Shi:
This quote is from Shawn Achor, who’s an American author. He’s the founder of GoodThink Inc., he’s a researcher known for his advocacy of positive philosophy, and he’s a speaker of the Fortune 100, as well as the NFL, the Pentagon and the White House! So, definitely a well credentialed dude and this is a well credentialed quote.
Kay:
Now, the quote is, I think, pretty interesting in that he’s saying the lens through which you view the world shapes your reality. So, basically your attitude is going to affect how you feel about your surroundings. And, we had a really interesting physical expression of this experience personally, just a couple of weeks ago!
Shi:
So, you may know that Kay recently competed in the Mrs. Nevada competition for America…
Kay:
Hey, hey!
Shi:
So, she was named Mrs. Reno, Nevada of America, and competed in the Mrs. Nevada title the other weekend. Now, she did not win the big title, but she did get awarded Miss Congeniality, which is probably the most special award at the pageant, because it’s voted by the other women! So, we love that all of them agreed that you were the most friendly, kind and helpful. And, I know all of us out there would agree with that assessment as well. But, while we were down in Las Vegas for the pageant and the competition, the hotel that we were staying in was previously the Red Dragon Chinese-themed hotel – which is now turned into a new kind of boutiquey hotel. And, it was wrapped in a red pinkish window covering that was a little disorienting.
Kay:
Well, I mean, imagine having rose-colored glasses on, in a physical sense, 24/7…
Shi:
Yeah. It kind of made you feel sick…You didn’t know if it was day or night!
Kay:
Right?! Sometimes I would be done looking outside and then look into the room and everything would look really green and I would feel kind of disoriented for a minute. So, we just kept the curtains closed most of the time!
Shi:
Right. And so, this was a great physical expression of this idea that what you look through matters in terms of how you perceive it and how you see it.
Kay:
Well, and how you feel about the world and what are the things that you see. If I look in one direction at the pink skyline of Las Vegas, the pink sun, and the pink everything. But, when I turn around, now – all of a sudden – the lens that I was just viewing through has now put me into this space where my room looks green, things look a little warped, and my actual vision of things is distorted. And so, that’s the physical expression, but the energetic expression here asks: What are the lenses that you might be looking through your life at that might be determining your view of the world?
Shi:
Exactly. And, once we bring that into this metaphorical sense, we really start to see the power of this quote. And, oftentimes we talk about reality being subjective and this is kind of another way to just say that it’s in that eye of the beholder, right? It’s how we see things. It really isn’t this objective reality that shapes us, but rather the lens in which we view the world. So, if something happens to you, are you the victim from it or are you a victor that’s going to overcome it? That lens has a completely different outcome on either side of those things, right? And, if something happens to you, do you say that’s the end of it for me or are you saying that it’s the beginning of a new chapter? Because, that lens is going to completely change how you behave and proceed with your life as well! So, it’s not reality – it’s not the firing from the job – the breakup from the thing – or the loss of a loved one that shapes who you are, but rather how you respond to those things…
Kay:
You know what’s coming up for me here is kind of the idea of when you put on someone else’s glasses, right?
Shi:
Yeah.
Kay:
Like, if I were to put on someone else’s prescription lenses, what often happens is that (even if you wear them for just a few minutes), you start to get a headache and you feel sick and your experience starts to be way worse. Now, if you do that, would you be the kind of person who chooses to continue wearing the glasses that make you feel sick and disoriented? Well, probably not. You’d probably say, “Hey, that’s a physical symptom. I’m going to take those glasses, I’m going to toss them out the window, and I’m not going to engage in that.” But, the reality of it is that many of us have these metaphorical glasses on that make us feel sick and disoriented. Like, the belief that we’re the victim, or the belief that the world is against us, or the belief that things always go wrong…or the belief that 2020 is the hardest year we’re ever going to face! Like, come on guys, get real…This is life. It’s going to get harder than this!
Shi:
We can just always kind of buckle up and be prepared!
Kay:
Yes! So, it’s such an incredible quote. And, there’s so much that we could unpack here, but we just really want to leave you with this idea that whatever your attitude is, whatever that filter is, you are the chooser of that filter, you choose to put the glasses on, and you choose to take them off. Just like Shawn Achor says, “It’s not the reality that shapes us, but the lens through which we view the world that shapes our reality.”
Shi:
All right, it’s quest time, and it’s Friday! So, you got your weekend quest assignment. And this weekend’s quest is a cleaning quest. So, it is time for you to clean the actual lenses in your life, (those physical lenses), from your glasses to the camera’s like your phone – oh, and don’t forget your selfie camera and the back camera, your windshield! And, while you are cleaning all of these lenses and surfaces, consider what you need to clean off from your world lens so that you can stop being disoriented and start seeing a little more clearly towards the things that you want. So, time to clean your glasses gang – you are on a cleaning quest this weekend, and we hope you have a great one. And are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
