https://pixabay.com/photos/old-books-book-old-library-436498/
We often think we know a lot about ourselves. How we think, how we decide, how we even move. But the truth is that this predictability is just an illusion created by our minds to make us feel more comfortable. So that we can plan our lives without constantly scanning our posture, our actions, or our thoughts. It is simply a simplification of the complexity of life and reality.
We are a different person to each person we meet in life.
Think about it for a moment...
The same John may be quiet to Silvia, but very talkative to Sam.
Some of your closest friends may remember you for your kindness, friendliness, or warmth, but to other acquaintances, you are just someone who did not support them when they needed you most, and who ended up leaving.
We have certainly known someone, or are about to meet someone, for whom we will be, or already are, the biggest villain in their life. Have you ever thought about this? Just as you dislike someone, sometimes without any real justification, there are also those who look at you with the same disdain.
To others, you may even be the bravest person, the hero who saved them at a moment in their lives that you may not even remember.
To most of the people you've ever met, your coworkers, or even your old high school classmates, you were just a name. Someone who does not materialize in person at this moment. They would only remember you if they looked at a photo or a video, or if someone mentioned your name, and they made the effort to rescue you from their most hidden memories.
You have countless versions of yourself, shaped by fleeting moments and personal perceptions that you will never understand, and to a certain extent, fortunately, we do not understand or remember them.
The most unsettling thing about a person, about the self, is that we never truly know ourselves the way others know us. We will never be able to hear our voice the way others hear it, we cannot hear our laughter the way others do.
We will never see what remains in a room, and how the room looks, when we leave that same room...
To ourselves, we are just us... But... in reality, we can say that we are the billions of versions of the stories that others read, see, and feel... And none of these countless, infinite versions will we ever be able to read.
Free image from Pixabay.com
Translated with DeepL.com (free version) and selected in the Advanced tools
The idea that we are seen differently by everyone we meet is both humbling and enlightening, showing that identity is not fixed but constantly shaped by the perspectives of others. I also appreciate how you highlight that much of our life is made up of moments and perceptions that we may never fully grasp. This reminds us to approach others with empathy and awareness, as everyone carries their own interpretations of our actions. Your post is a thoughtful reminder that our presence resonates in ways we cannot always predict or understand.