On Thursday March 1st, 2012, I received a phone call that my younger sister had just be stung by a very big, scary scorpion.
I died!
The venom was spreading in her system but thankfully, she was offered an antidote and later got fine.
Scorpions are opportunistic, predatory animals that belong to the class of Arachnida.
They have eight legs and a pair of grasping claws known as Chelae that they use for prey immobilization, defence, and sensory purposes.
They have a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger that they use to kill or paralyse their preys.
However, here's the thing.
It is said that scorpion is a traditional, delicious dish in a certain town known as Shandong in China.
Now, between my family and the people of Shandong is a powerful, ageless concept known as Perception.
Perception, for humans, come in different shades of green. I mean, they are as heterogeneous as they come.
But then your perfection can imprison you or it can set you free.
If the guys in Shandong could derive great enjoyment from an animal my family and I were only pained about, it paints a picture of the difference in perception.
Rather than "perceive" scorpions as a symbol of pain only, those guys perceived them as a symbol for enjoyment as well.
Perception influences response
If you perceive life as cruel, you will simply take up the position of a victim.
If you perceive it as a learning curve, you'll simply take up the position of a student.
The position you take up determines your behaviour and your behaviour determines your results.
Often times we get stuck in a rut of our endeavour and we struggle and sweat to break out from the hole without success.
Yet, all that we need to do to free ourselves is to forget the hole and simply make a slight or major adjustment on our perception.
What is your perception doing to you?