Perception is reality. As humans, our thoughts and beliefs are often the foundation upon which we build our social environment. Perception is a powerful phenomenon, and in a single moment the perception of a set of circumstances can change, altering an individual's reality as they know it. Since one of the key factors in defining a crisis can be found in an individual's perception of the precipitating event, perception becomes a vital component in maintaining balance in life. This change in perception was solely responsible for the complete alteration of my world as I understood it to be. My perception of the last three years, the future of my marriage, and my own future was threatened in one day, in a way that transformed my world into a personal crisis. My husband and I had been married for two difficult years. The first of those two years was spent in Iraq, while the last of the two was spent trying to recover from that mission. My marriage was difficult, but up until that day in April I was committed to making it work, for better or for worse; this was the worst, but in my perception the best was yet to come. My husband had cheated; I had forgiven, my husband had lied; I had trusted, my husband drank; I offered support, my husband was deployed; I offered my loyalty, but when I discovered that my husband had created a false reality for me to live in; I left. On the way home from school that day I noticed I had a new message on my Facebook. It was an email from my husband's sister and for a moment I was curious as to what she had to say. When I started reading I felt my world start to spin, my heart rate increased, my thoughts started racing, and I felt a wave of panic consume me. In this email he informed m...... middle of paper ......m as an opportunity to grow as an individual and as a professional. Ultimately, I was able to objectively view my husband's behavior in the context of human behavior, and in doing so I took responsibility for my social work education on a deeply personal level. This objectivity will be useful in assisting future clients in crisis situations. Not only by experiencing this crisis, but also by processing my actions and my environment on a spiritual level, I realized that in a single moment in time your perception, and therefore your reality, can be destroyed. A storm can overwhelm your world and leave destruction and chaos in its wake. But it is after the storm, after everything we knew has fallen apart, that we are given the profound opportunity to rebuild our lives from the inside out, with stronger foundations, capable of withstanding future storms that life may bring..