About 14 years ago when I started this MBA program one of my professors said "Perception is reality" and that expression has stuck with me as it is so enlightening towards other people's point of view. How others think the world is, is often how they find it. People who believe that media is too liberal will find liberal media. People who feel the world is prejudiced will find prejudice. People who feel the world is unfair will find unfairness.
A few days ago I was told about an altercation by one of the parties in the dispute whom I needed to represent at a hearing this evening. Tonight I heard the other point of view, and unsurprisingly, they were different. I don't believe either party is consciously lying, just representing different perspectives.
A perception that hit me out of the blue last week dealt with expectations and my weight. I have been overweight since puberty at a fairly steady upward trend. I realized last week that when I was in Middle School and a little overweight I received stares and comments. In High School people were a little less likely to comment and my weight grew more, in College the trend continued. I realized that as an adult the judgement others have about me and about my weight is less likely to gain comment. I had unconscciously taken the silence as approval or that no one noticed how fat I had become, but that perception or denial is absolutely false. It caused harm by allowing me to justify to myself, maybe if no one noticed or commented, it must not be "that" bad.
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