It's all about Perspective

Recently, I have been mulling over perspective. Not my perspective necessarily (I know mine well enough ), but the perspective of others. The way others see me and the way I see others are two very different perspectives sometimes. I have been reminded a lot lately that how I think I look and sound and act are different from how others see me.

This is a picture that was drawn of me at a block party by one of my R.As (resident assistants). Both my roommate and I compared our pictures to ourselves and felt like our pictures didn't look like ourselves, but when we looked at each other's, we each thought the other's  picture was a good likeness. I was so sure that this picture looked nothing like me that I was sure that my AR must not be a good artist, but then I remembered that I had seen examples of his art, so I knew that wasn't true. After thinking about it, I came to the realization that even though I felt like I looked different, this was how my friend saw me. I was still kind of stewing about this picture and how people really must see me, and I decided that the best course of action was to color my picture to look like me so I would stop worrying about looking so different to other people.

After coloring my picture, I felt much better about the picture of me that actually really did look like me, I was just having a hard time seeing the resemblance without color.
Isn't it crazy the difference it makes when we can see the color? The picture is the same, but my characteristics are more defined.
Throughout history and even in current times, physical appearance has been a big part of how we pass judgement about others. We don't always necessarily do it in a bad way, but we as humans have judgement skills that we use to qualify whether someone looks like they would be friendly, or a criminal, or an ally. Although qualifying judgements are usually an initial judge of character, it's  a a pretty big deciding factor in who we chose to socialize with and to spend our time with.
This is why, although appearances are not the most important thing in the world, the way we appear to others matters. It's the reason we dress in uniform for concerts or wear shorts and a t-shirt when we work out or why people often dress up for job interviews. Not only does the way we appear affect other's opinions of us, but the way we appear has a big impact on the way you feel about ourselves. I find that I am often more comfortable standing up in front of people for any reason when I have put some effort into looking nice.
There are times when it's good to let go a little and not stress too much about how you look, but when you know you look good, it is easier to feel good about yourself and to subsequently be a positive influence on others who look up to you that may be struggling themselves.
Something that I have been trying hard to do lately is to eat healthier and to exercise. No, this is not an easy task, and yes, it is a life-long battle, but being healthy effects your appearanc in a positive way. Being in good health helps you to have more confidence, to be a happier person, to have better focus, to sleep better at night, to reduce anxiety and depression, etc.. And it's hard, so you have the added benefit of becoming a stronger person by doing the hard thing by eating an apple rather than chips or drinking water rather than a soda. One of the benefits of having good health is that it is not a defined thing. You don't have to be a certain size or weight to be healthy, and best of all, if you are regularly eating well, it's still ok to eat cookies and ice cream sometimes. I know I do!
My goal for myself and others this week is to think outside your perspective. Dress up a little. Maybe eat a little better than you did before. Whatever you need to do to feel better about yourself this week, do it! You'll feel better if you do.