Changing Your Mind Can Change Everything

If your life seems to be going in the wrong direction, or if something seems impossible, you can often turn it around by simply changing the way you look at it. The tremendous effect that our beliefs and our perceptions can have on the world around us has been proven time and again in quantum physics, but let's look at some examples that illustrate it really well.

The first example is a classic puzzle called, "Where is the missing dollar?"

Three guests check into a hotel and decide to share a room. The clerk says the bill is $30, so each guest pays $10. Later, the clerk realizes the bill should only be $25 so he gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to their room, the bellhop realizes that he can't divide $5 equally so, since the guests don't know the total of the revised bill, he decides to give each guest $1 back and keep $2 for himself.

Now that each guest has been given $1 back, each has paid $9, bringing the total paid to $27. The bellhop kept $2. Since the guests originally handed over $30, what happened to the remaining dollar?

Notice that there is nothing incorrect in the facts presented by the riddle. Each step logically leads you to the next. And yet it leads to an impossible conclusion. There can't possibly be a missing dollar but our perception of the facts says that a dollar vanished because of the way the facts are framed. In fact, the first time most people hear this puzzle, they can't wrap their heads around it. But change the last paragraph and reframe the facts -- and the impossible becomes possible.

Now that each guest has been given $1 back, each has paid $9, bringing the total paid to $27. The clerk kept $25 and the bellhop kept $2. That equals the $27 that the guests paid.

Maybe that example is too much like a word problem from math class to enjoy what's actually happening there. So let's look at another example -- a visual example.  Look at this animated silhouette of a Spinning Dancer. Which way is she spinning?  Counter-clockwise?  Clockwise?  Whichever way you see it, would it surprise you to know that many people see her spinning in the other direction?

Some people have presented this as a test to determine which hemisphere of your brain is dominant (right brain vs. left brain). This actually is not the case.  Because there is a lack of visual clues for depth, your brain can perceive it in two different ways.

It's important to remember that neither is more "true" than the other despite how vehemently some observers protest that the way they see it is "right."  It simply comes down to whether your brain thinks she is spinning on her left leg or her right leg.

If you are open to seeing her spin the other direction, you can try a couple of things:

• Look slightly away from the picture so you can still see it but you are not looking directly at it. Now, if you think her arm and leg are moving counter-clockwise, try to see the movement in the other direction. It may help to slightly bounce your head in that direction as you try to imagine it. When you perceive a change in motion, keep that perspective and slowly move your eyes back to the image. Now you will see her spinning in the other direction, and it will be just as convincing as the way you used to see it. In fact, you may have to repeat that trick in order to see her spinning in the original way you saw her.
  
  
• If that trick doesn't work for you, you may need an additional visual cue. In the following images, an "R" and an "L" are attached to her leg. If you think she is spinning on her left leg, focus on the image with the "R" and try to imagine that it is her right leg instead.  Most people are able to change their perception when given this additional visual cue.
  
    

This visual example makes it very obvious that a small shift in perception and your pre-existing beliefs can completely turn something around -- literally. This is just an example of one small way that a simple change in perception can turn your life around.  See it differently and it will BE different.

Which way does your world turn?