Perception is Reality
An excerpt from: Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
He was bitter and cruel, an alcoholic and drug addict who almost killed himself several times. Today he serves a life sentence in prison for the murder of a liquor store cashier who “got in his way.”
He has two sons, born a mere eleven months apart, one of whom grew up to be “just like Dad”: a drug addict who lived by stealing and threatening others until he, too, was put in jail for attempted murder.
His brother, however, is a different story: a man who’s raising three kids, enjoys his marriage, and appears to be truly happy. As regional manager for a major national concern, he finds his work both challenging and rewarding. He’s physically fit, and has no alcohol or drug addictions!
How could these two young men have turned out so differently, having grown up in virtually the same environment?
Both were asked privately, unbeknownst to the other, “Why has your life turned out this way?”
They both provided the exact same answer: “What else could I have become, having grown up with a father like that?”
Perception is reality.
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
–Marcus Aurelius
