This week, I was talking on the phone with my grandma, and we were talking about my dad and my two uncles, her three sons. We were joking around about them, but then my grandma quickly shifted gears to talk about their jobs. My dad and my uncles all have pretty illustrious jobs. One works for the police department, one works for a major credit card company, and one works for a law firm. They are all very capable in their fields, and they do well in their jobs. They’re stand up, reputable people.

It was weird to think of my dad and my uncles in a professional way. I know them as three wise-cracks who are over the top and are always wanting to just relax. The picture of these three men that I have in my mind is vastly different from what other groups in the world see them as, and that got me thinking.

There are so many different ways that a person can be viewed. So many different filters that we as humans put each other in on a daily basis. They’re not necessarily bad, there is just so many that it makes my head want to spin. Is it possible to be known when there are so many different perceptions of us out there in the world? Is it even possible to know all the different perceptions of ourselves that are out there?

It makes me wonder how many different filters I have been put through. It makes me wonder which ones are right and which ones are wrong. Am I the only person who knows the whole picture about myself?

I think it would be easy to be so focused on going down the rabbit hole of wondering who sees me in what way, but that is a very easy way to forget how to live. Do I love my dad and my uncles less because I don’t see them the same way that the rest of society might see them? No. I just love them differently. I just know them differently than say their bosses know them.

Not everyone is going to see you in the same context, in the same light. If everyone had exactly the same idea of who you were, there would be no room for improvement. You wouldn’t be able to grow, no one would come with any surprises. That would be a bigger tragedy than not knowing how you’re thought of could ever be.

Part of the human experience is wearing different hats and being a different version of yourself in different scenarios. Humans are not supposed to be entirely stagnant in their character! Let people see you differently, and make it a point to always be working to stay true to how you view yourself, because you are the most important viewer of them all.