T.F.T.W. #2

I have a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head, and one of the most common ones that keeps floating to the front is - how people form their opinions of each other.

There's a lot of miscommunication and vitriol in the world, and life would be a whole lot easier if everyone was able to just understand each other's point of view without judgment or critique.

But we don't have a magical way of understanding someone else's viewpoint, and without getting into a deep and meaningful conversation over a nice steaming cup of tea, there's no better way of forming an opinion of someone than paying attention to what they actually 'do' in any given situation.

It's for this reason, that any action (or inaction) you take in life needs to be thought of as telegraphing your opinions to the world.

If you say you'll do something, then fail to follow through; your intentions might have been good, but you still failed to do the thing that you said you would...

There is of course, the complication of people hiding their true feelings by doing things that 'appear' to be good, in essence wearing a mask *(giving to a charity they dislike because they believe that it will make them appear better to their neighbours) - but for the moment let's assume that all people are truthful in their intent.

One could also make an argument that it doesn't matter if someone does something good for selfish reasons, they still 'did' the good thing...

I guess what I'm circling around is the idea that "you are what you do."

People can only view 'you' as a result of your actions, so be thoughtful in what you do.

Got something that you're passionate about? Then pursue it.
Dislike that politician spreading misinformation and hatred? Then by all means, protest!
(at the same time, don't be shocked when someone who opposes your viewpoint is just as vocal and passionate as you are)


Life is too short to be false with your intentions. So speak your truth, and open your ears to others.

Do you have any thoughts on how people make up their opinions of others? Are there better ways of judging people's intention that using their actions? Do you find that there are circumstances where using a mask is the safer/smarter/better option?

Let me know your thoughts on the topic of: you are what you do. :)


*P.S.> there should be a little disclaimer here at the end of each of the TFTW posts - none of these ponderings are based on anything that's happened recently to me or anyone I know. They're just things that bubble around in my head - and I'm interested in others thoughts on them. Please treat them as intended; abstract discussions about the bigger thoughts of life in general.

Mahalo