Your World Is Tinted By The Lens You're Looking Through
Whether we’re aware of it or not, our world is constantly tinted by different factors in our daily lives. Does this mean we’re living in a fake world? No, I don’t mean it that way. I’m talking about the fact that certain aspects of our lives are capable of changing, molding, or creating the way we choose to view our surroundings. For the record: this is NOT always a negative thing!
The biggest lenses that tint our world are as follows:
- Media intake
- Environment
- Beliefs
- Peers
- Mindset
- Experiences
- Culture
- Mood
YOUR MEDIA INTAKE
The media that we consume on a daily basis is bound to have an impact on our outlook. It’s only logical. The news we hear about, the photos you’re liking regularly, the advertisements that are being presented to you, etc. Their content and your attention are the perfect recipe for tinting your world. Do you prioritize unfollowing people who serve you no good? Do you tend to “zone out” in stories, profiles, or videos that are ultimately harmful or negative in nature? The sheer amount of content that we consume in a day is unlike anything humans have been accustomed to – meaning the impact could be dire. Be aware of your media intake. Follow more people who align with your ideal life, your ideal mindset. You’ll slowly be putting the power back in your hands, essentially untinting this aspect of life.
YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Our surroundings, our current habitat, our norms in the society we’re placed in – the environment can have a profound tinting effect on our lives. When we’re desensitized to seeing homelessness around our neighborhoods or thefts happening at banks… we start to see those occurrences as normal. The way people around you carry themselves has grand capabilities to shape your view of the world. It can either inspire you or it can concern you, depending on what environment you’re in currently. Are you in an environment that allows you to flourish? If not, what’s keeping you from putting yourself in an environment that mimics that ideal place? A lot of these categories can blend together here; you could start consuming media that shapes your idea for a positive environment & seek it out. The tinting on the world will now be in your favor.
YOUR BELIEFS
Your beliefs will tint the world into the way you believe it to be. The impact your beliefs have on your world is major – so treat them with care. I’m not referencing religion, but rather your beliefs about yourself. Your situation. Your life. Your future. What do you believe? The tinting effect that your beliefs have are supposed to be a positive thing. If they’re not, I strongly suggest that you make time to identify which beliefs are holding you back.
YOUR PEERS
Your peers have the ability to tint your world in a way that’s stronger than you realize. Their opinion matters to you – meaning you’re likely swayed in the direction of wanting to be like them / get their approval. Are the peers you surround yourself with the type of people to support and encourage you? Are they the type to leave you if you’ve made a mistake? Do they reinforce the good you do and the positive aspects of your personality? Don’t get stuck trying to fit in with a group of people who wouldn’t even think twice if you weren’t with them anymore. Your worth is FIRST found within yourself, meaning you wouldn’t choose to dwell over what that group had to say about you to begin with.
YOUR MINDSET
Your mindset tints your world to fit the information that all the other categories have given you. Your willingness to unfollow negativity in life depends on your mindset. Why? Because you’re the only one that has to put up with it. You’re the only person that can choose to cut the negativity out of your life. A growth mindset, which I wrote about here, discusses the utter importance that mindset has the power of persuasion in any direction. Be careful where you allow your mind to wander. Interrupt your negative thoughts. Readjust your goals accordingly. It’s so important and it’s so possible.
YOUR EXPERIENCES
Your prior life experiences will tune your outlook of the world into what best fits your current situation. We are always relying on what feels familiar, where patterns are in our world, to make sense of what’s happening. This tints our world to enable us to make sense of it all. The lessons we’ve learned through our mistakes and our successes are our baseline for accepting new experiences in life.
YOUR CULTURE
Your culture is embedded into your personality from an early age. Sometimes it is diluted with social norms that are from a different culture, or sometimes you grow up without creating roots at all. Certain decisions may be acceptable in one culture while being disrespectful in another. Our view is tinted by the things we find acceptable, wrong, strange, beautiful, etc. It’s a beautiful tint on life that everyone sees differently.
YOUR MOOD
Your mood can be different shades of happiness, altering levels of anger, varying degrees of calmness. It all impacts the tint of your outlook in some minor way. The mood we’re most often in can serve as a justified neutral tint. How are you seeing the world in your every day life? Is it tinted in your favor, or is it hard to see?
