Perception

There is an old Tamil song which says that all we see is not true and all we hear are lies. In
modern terms what we see nay all that we see ,hear ,smell taste and feel are not really what we think we see etc. Think is the operative word.The human ear has evolved over millions of years and at at present capable of sensing a small portion of the total spectrum. Any frequency which falls out side this is not sensed by the ear. I must say human ear. There are other animals ,dogs for instance , which are capable of hearing higher pitch sounds.
The ear is just a sensor albeit a complex one. A spoken. A cry could be one of fear,ecstasy ,disgust or alarm. The human brain takes the sound waves and is able interpret and understand not only the words but also the feelings.  However another element creeps into equation. This is the cognitive bias that each person has. These are unique to each person and is the result of each person's nurturing and conditioning. Once this is involved what you hear is no more the real sound and emotion. It becomes our subjective perception. This is true of all our sensory inputs.
All that glitters is not gold. Whatever we think we see or hear is just a construct of our brain. (May be that is why the scriptures call everything in the causal universe as MAYA or illusion.) It is our subjective perception and even to us is not constant but changing with time and circumstances.

Habits

When we talk about habits we immediately think of all the bad habits only stop i when we talk about habits we immediately think of all the bad habits only. however habits can become very powerful tools in our self development.

Most of us  have a tendency to procrastinate. The reasons for postponing doing things is a subject for a different post.  however the most common reason is avoidance of pain . But whatever the reason, the result is to postpone doing the task. It is very difficult to overcome this tendency. Why not use a different habit to overcome this habit , for procrastination is nothing but a habit. If a habit , which is nothing but a set of steps, is consciously formed and practiced for a period of time it becomes a habit.  I use the two minute rule. ( i read about it somewhere.) If the task can be done in two minutes , I do it immediately, no postponement.Whether it is making a call home or rinsing the coffee mug , it is done. I dont to listen my inner voice giving me very good reasons for putting it off.
This simple , easy to form  habit can give you so much more that just doing small things.a journey of athousand miles starts with one step.” In practical terms what happens is that once you have taken the first step, somehow or other our mind convinces us to complete other related tasks which we have been postponing.once you start cleaning the windsheild of your car, you go ahead and wash the car. It just needed overcoming the static resistance. It is like trying to push your car. Initially it takes lots of force to start the car moving but once it starts rolling , it needs much less effort.
The corollary to this is that when you have a fairly large or complex task to do, all you have to do is to break it down into small task making the first task into a bite sized 2 minute task and then apply the 2 minute rule to the first task. When I have to prepare a meal, and have put it off long enough, I just get up and go to the pantry ostensibly to check up on what ingredients are available . I am going to only that and come back to the sofa and continue with my whatsapp work. But once I have got my butt off the sofa , I say to myself , now that you have come so far , why not finish the painful chore , and go back to whatsapping in a totally relaxed mood and for however long I want without feeling any guilt.Presto!  My meal is cooked .
One caveat, though. When is post ponement really is NOT procrastination. When the task you have chosen in preference to another task,is more important and urgent we cannot call it procrastination. This is a conscious  decision and is not something you are doing to avoid the unpleasant chore.