Perception, perception, perception.

This story is all 100% true, but the people in it are disguised with different names to protect their identity… Read on if you must. The other day I was talking to my friend Falula on my couch and we were disclosing some pretty saucy secrets about ourselves. She was so awesome to be completely honest with me and tell me that when she first met me she was intimidated by me (it must have been my stature and amazing muscles that did it).  She went on to tell me a story where a loooooooong time ago she decided I wasn’t quite made up to be her friend. There was an incident where in doing her make up with a different friend of mine, let’s call her…. Gladys, Falula pulled out her “Wet-N-Wild” eye shadow. As her finger caught the dollop of makeup and slowly and dramatically moved inch by inch, closer and closer to her eye lid……. Gladys gasped the most horrible gasp a girl named Gladys could produce and said; “Why Falula, what in the name of all that’s fashionable and hip are you doing!? Are you really putting “Wet-N-Wild” on your face?! Libier (that’s me) would NEVER do that!” And there you have it folks. Falula for sure thought I was a crazy ol’ make-up freak that would never put the kind of make-up she thought was perfectly okay, on my face. And with a simple piece of data about who I was, she formed a skewed perception of me, and I don’t blame her.

Okay, funny thing is that while yes, I used to be a makeup snob for whatever reason, that single factoid about me did not make up who I was in its entirety. I am sure that there was and is more to me than just liking materialistic things. But,when we don’t have all of the information on a person or a situation, it is very difficult to formulate an accurate report of who they are or what the situation is. NOT to say I’ve never assumed someone was a particular way based on a tinny factoid, just saying that it’s not the best way to figure someone out is all. I’ve done that many times just so you know. But I do believe in getting better and better as a person, and this is something super important because it’s sad to know that some of the things we like or we stand for will be staples of how others view us. And sometimes it’s not in the best light.  I started thinking about people in my life and how I view them, after analyzing my thoughts and behavior I came to the conclusion that everyone is just really scared and we ALL want to fit in and to be liked….dare I say LOVED and accepted. It makes me want to cry that Falula and I couldn’t dig deeper to see if there was more to our friendship other than our disagreement on a brand of make-up. I am glad that she and I have become closer and she now sees that there is more than meets the “wet-n-wild” eye with me. But that took years to happen. What amazing friendships are you losing out on based on your perception of peeps you’ve met?! Can I just say that my priorities have shifted a tiny bit and if you were to look in my make-up bag right this second you WOULD find a compact of “Wet-N-Wild” powder in it, just sayin’. Gladys don’t cry now..

Stay blessed and stay saucy people!