Perception ... or imagination?

Faye Jones wrote a poem titled "Perceptions", with these words being the first verse:

There is many a time You seem to read my mind.

But in the end

You can't know what I intend.

Your view of my actions

Are clouded by your past attachments.

I suspect that most of us have had experiences which caused us to wonder if we had offended our friend or acquaintance. They may not have been as friendly as in the past, or appeared to have been bored with our conversation. The process begins in our minds wondering if we are the source of the problem. In our insecurity, we let what we thought to be a slight, cloud our whole relationship with that person.

One day we meet that person again and everything is as had been in the past, and we discover that a death had occurred in the family, or with a friend, that the person had been under enormous stress over a health related issue, or employment concern, and we realize that our perception had been in error.

If we had been straight forward, we could have asked the person if there was a problem and if there was anything we could do to help. We could have been a resource and, at the same time, saved ourselves those moments of inner pain that had been "clouded" by past experiences.

So, if we are to have healthy relationships, we need to express our perceptions to determine if they are correct or simply the product of our imaginations.