Perceptions

Middle Child recently announced to me that The Man and I fight constantly. This came as rather a shock to me, because I can't actually remember the last time we had what I'd consider a fight! Do we get aggravated with each other? Sure. Yeah, that's par for the course, I think.

I asked Oldest, and he said "Yeah, I used to think you fought all the time, but I started noticing that you just get frustrated for a minute and then it's over."

I said, "Hmm... I don't even notice. Maybe it's because of stress? I mean, we do live with a fair amount of stress."

Oldest said "Are you kidding me? You live under an unbelievable amount of stress! I don't know how you deal with it!"

I'll admit, I felt better. Primarily because he noticed.

I repeated the conversation to a married friend, who said "Yeah, that kind of fighting is called 'marriage'."

It made me think, though, about perceptions. I try really hard not to judge people, to always think about what kind of day that person might be having, or under what kind of stress they live. I always wonder about how people perceive me, and how close to true those perceptions are. I like to think I've got everyone fooled into thinking I'm on top of things.

(That was a joke, I don't really think I've got everyone fooled.)

I wonder, though, about everyone else. So I'll throw this out there for my readers:

1. Do you think the public perception of you matches up with the "real" you?
2. Do you think your family's perception of you is accurate?
3. Do you fight with your significant other? More or less than an observer would perceive?
4. Are you more or less stressed than people think?

Inquiring minds want to know.