Why Do We Struggle to Know What Is True?
The Same Situation, Different Conclusions
Have you ever noticed how two people can experience the same situation and come away with completely different conclusions?
They may witness the same event.
Participate in the same conversation.
Read the same article.
Receive the same feedback.
Or live through the same experience.
Yet their interpretations can be remarkably different.
One person may view a situation as an opportunity.
Another may see it as a threat.
One person may feel encouraged.
Another may feel criticized.
One person may believe they are being supported.
Another may believe they are being judged.
The external situation may be the same.
What differs is often how the situation is being interpreted.
The Internal Lens
This does not necessarily happen because people are dishonest, irrational, or unwilling to see the truth.
It happens because every person experiences life through a unique internal lens.
Our perceptions are influenced by many factors.
Past experiences.
Beliefs.
Values.
Cultural conditioning.
Family dynamics.
Education.
Trauma.
Fears.
Hopes.
Expectations.
Experiences help shape how we interpret the world around us.
As a result, two people can encounter the same information yet understand it very differently.
The difference is not always found in the information itself.
It is often found in the lens through which that information is being viewed.
Perception Is Not the Same Thing as Truth
This does not mean that truth does not exist.
Nor does it mean that every perspective is equally accurate.
However, it does suggest that our perception of a situation and the situation itself are not always identical.
Most of us do not respond directly to reality.
Instead, we respond to our interpretation of reality.
The meaning we assign begins to shape our experience.
The story we tell ourselves about what happened influences how we respond.
Assumptions, expectations, memories, and emotional reactions all become part of the lens through which we experience a situation.
This process happens so quickly that we are often unaware it is occurring.
A comment from a coworker may feel dismissive to one person and completely neutral to another.
A delayed text message may be interpreted as rejection by one person and simple busyness by another.
The same event can create very different experiences depending on the meaning we assign to it.
The challenge is that when we become unaware of this process, we can begin treating our interpretations as unquestionable facts.
We may assume that what we perceive is the complete picture when, in reality, we may only be seeing one part of a much larger whole.
Why This Matters
The ability to recognize the difference between perception and truth is not simply an intellectual exercise.
It shapes the way we relate to nearly every area of life.
Our relationships.
The decisions we make.
The conversations we have.
The ways we respond to ourselves and others.
When we are unaware of the lenses through which we view the world, we may mistake assumptions for facts.
Interpretations for reality.
Emotional reactions for objective truth.
We may become convinced that our perspective is the only possible perspective.
Or we may struggle to understand why others see things so differently.
Awareness creates another possibility.
It allows us to become curious about how we are arriving at our conclusions.
From there, we can pause and ask:
What am I seeing?
What assumptions am I making?
What experiences might be influencing my interpretation?
These questions do not guarantee certainty.
But they can create space for greater understanding, clarity, and discernment.
Moving Beyond Automatic Conclusions
Most of us are taught to pay attention to what we think.
Far fewer of us are taught to examine how we arrived at those thoughts in the first place.
When we become curious about our own perceptions, something begins to shift.
We become less reactive.
More reflective.
Less certain that our first interpretation is the complete picture.
More willing to consider possibilities we may not have seen before.
This does not require us to abandon our beliefs, ignore our experiences, or question everything we think.
Rather, it invites us to develop a deeper awareness of the factors that influence how we see and understand the world.
In doing so, we create space between what happens and how we interpret it.
Within that space, greater understanding can emerge.
And often, so can greater clarity.
A Different Question
When we struggle to know what is true, our instinct is often to focus on the information itself.
We search for more facts.
More opinions.
More perspectives.
Sometimes this is helpful.
But sometimes a different question is needed.
Not only:
What is true?
But also:
How am I arriving at what I believe to be true?
The answer may reveal influences we had not previously considered.
Our experiences.
Our assumptions.
Our fears.
Our hopes.
Our expectations.
The goal is not to eliminate these influences.
The goal is to become more aware of them.
Because the more aware we become of the lenses through which we view the world, the more capable we become of seeing with greater understanding, discernment, and clarity.
The Clarity Series
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Next in the Series: When Emotions Become the Lens
© 2026 • Charmaine Cheryle | The Modern Babaylan
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