The Real World

I am of the opinion that everyone lives in their own world. Not saying that everyone is sitting in a corner, staring off in space, drooling and having sharp objects kept away from them. But I as continue to get my adult on, I realize that perception is reality, and sometimes what is perceived is false!

For a long time I thought that I was a very understanding person. I thought I was the type of person who tried to understand where someone else was coming from. Or what it was like to walk a mile in another person’s shoes. But as you can see from this, where I was more than sure that he was being a racist and nothing else, maybe I am not “very” understanding at all. My perception of his actions became my reality. I doubt that I was wrong (tee hee)…but maybe I was. The fact that in my world, what I perceived was right has now shaped a whole different opinion of this man. From now on, he will be defined by this one conversation that he’s probably forgot about. Meanwhile, I’m in my cube wondering why people still can’t see me as a person and not just a young Black woman.

And my perception of things has affected relationships with friends and family. A friend of mine was once afraid to tell me that they had accidently broken something of mine because they were afraid of my reaction, they perceived that I would not be understanding. For years I thought my dad was a certain type of person because of something he did, not knowing (until 8 years later) the reason why he did it. If only I had known sooner, or at least been aware of what was really going on, then things could totally be different in our relationship now. Yet for years I threw a pity party for myself. For years I harbored anger and resentment, that now I view as just wasted time, wasted emotions.

And how easy it is for us (especially women folk) to get tied up in our world of emotion because of what we think we see. If your boss doesn’t call on you in a meeting then it must mean you are getting fired. If your significant other doesn’t call you at the same time for two days, then they must be seeing someone else. If you don’t get invited to the party then no one in the world likes you. Not saying anything against women’s intuition, but at times all these thoughts and emotions seem just as silly as thinking the coat rack at night is a monster lurking in corner. The reality is the world is not always how you perceive it to be.

See You In Seven