You are what you do.

It might seem like a hardcore view of the world and I can totally appreciate that we have our own thoughts and can commit acts against our own will. It might even be considered a luxury to have this opinion. But the more I think about this, the more I find it true.

What ifs

If I donate my belongings to someone with nothing, they might think I'm generous. If I lash out at someone when I'm angry, they might think I have a temper. If I console someone when they're sad, they might think I'm compassionate. Whether we like it or not, we tend to put people in boxes. As we get to know them, the boxes might grow in size; we might start thinking this person is capable of more, start considering their thoughts, their circumstances, their beliefs, but we instantly question those positions when they act against what we perceived to be true of them. So we're still judged by our actions.

Story time

My fictitious character, Bob, was at a job site the other day, working in a data closet that had clearly been mistreated. Wire ends were everywhere, sheet rock dust covered the floor, it was a mess. It wasn't his closet and he was there to just do a quick, simple job. He could have terminated his wire and left the ends on the floor. Nobody would have known. He could have left more junk in there. Instead, he took a half hour and cleaned up the place. He didn't tell anybody about it - he just did what he thought was a good job and left.

Fast forward a day or two and guess what? And Sheila noticed. Now, Bob is perceived as going above and beyond, taking the extra step, noticing the little things - At least to Sheila. Maybe not everybody in the world would have noticed, and that's a part of it, too. These things are how our character gets built. Our "avatar," if you will. How we're perceived in the world. Not 'perceived by the world' but 'perceived in the world' by the millions of other avatars we come in contact with. Bob's thoughts, his beliefs - that's between him and his maker - what mattered to everyone else was what he did.

"Great, so what can I do about it?"

Nobody is perfect. Not everybody even notices the small things you do. We're all individual. We're all on our own journey. Frankly, we're all self-indulged.

I think the takeaway is this: Act out the person you want to be and you will become to others how you want to be perceived.