Perception is reality

Tonight my friend Dave and I drove to Lumpkin, Ga to pick up a coffee roaster. On the way to go pick it up we got into a great conversation about the title above. This is a tricky one because as Dave and I began to dive into the idea, we talked about the self destruction it brings along. Perception being realty to some introduces the idea that truth can be relative to some as well. In this people's distinguish truth from their perception of reality. In all of this people outside of the individual "realities" can be living different perceptions, which in turn destroys the ideas of others across the board. This raises the question of relative truth and absolute truth and how they relate and how they battle. I believe absolute truth is real which trumps all perception due to the fact that "absolute truth" is... I love topics like these because they get those wheels a spinning and hamsters turning the wheels. Anyone have any thoughts?