Fr Jim Cogley
Each of us has our own particular lens by which we view reality. This has been forming in multiple layers during the entire course of our lives. All our experiences both good and bad have played a part in this formation. Whether we see the world as friendly or hostile, to be embraced or to be fought, will depend on these. Early traumatic experiences like rejection, abandonment or any form of abuse, becomes the lens through which we perceive reality. So it is that someone not noticing us can be perceived as rejection while the reality could be
they were in emotional turmoil. A partner needing space in a relationship can be perceived as abandoning us and even an ordinary gesture of affection can be misinterpreted as being used. Every event that happens to us is evaluated through the lens of our unique perception where something positive can be seen with suspicion and something apparently negative can be viewed in a positive light.