Each of us has a perceived image of ourselves. This is who we think we are and it’s also who we believe (or hope) our friends and family perceive us.
Then, there’s the self that your family and friends really view you as. Sometimes, there could even be a few of these ’selves’ as some of us could portray a different side of us to different people.
And it got me thinking, “so which is the real self?”
Another side of me thought, “Look, it’s been proven humans, especially women, portray different sides to different people, not because they’re manipulative but just being smart (then again, this can be a different story for a different day). Some people take to different personalities but that said, the said person is not being fake but just showing one side of his/her many different sides.”
But what if your perceived self doesn’t reconcile with the people closest to you? Will that simply become a lack of self-awareness?
Differences with my close friends could bother me for weeks and it frustrates me to no end why they could be so oblivious and not see where the fault lies in them. (That said, they could feel exactly the same about me.)
Sometimes, I take the risk of being honest with them (cos that’s what good friends do for each other rather then allowing them to continue living in their own lala land right?), thinking they would be able to ponder about what you have to say cos supposedly, what you said ought to have some importance to them. No?
Most times, depending on the friend, the situation gets resolved and the matter actually helps to deepen our friendships but well, I guess you can’t always expect the target to hit the bull’s eye.
And when that happens, I can’t help but feel saddened by how unaware the said friend can be of herself. And I can’t help but lose a little of my respect for her. The worst part is, she doesn’t even know that.
If I can help it, I wouldn’t want to feel this way. Why would I because it bothers me every time I think about it?
But just like the subject title “my perception is not your reality” (a statement I learnt in school), I try to remind myself that though we all live in the same world, we also live in very different ones.
