Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover...

Something strange happened today.  I saw the neighbour and he asked me if I was okay.  I said yes, although I was confused on why he thought that, but I had been rubbing my eyes as I had just minced up an onion.  Evidently he thought I had been crying.  He then said "oh good, because I thought it would be weird if you were crying as you are too strong for that."  I replied "I cry.  Everyone cries."  He said "I guess I just never thought you could have a weakness."

I thought this incident strange in the sense that I am human and have many weaknesses.  He hardly knows me, I'll give him that, but he does see me a lot playing with the kids outside, tending to our itty bitty garden, etc.  So I got to thinking that his perception of me must be quite wrong.  Or perhaps his definition of strength is different than mine.  To me, I am an average human being.  I cry when upset, overwhelmed, and sometimes for no reason at all.  I laugh when I am happy and hear a good joke.  Sounds pretty normal to me.  I do have weaknesses... some I try to better, others I don't really care to fix as they are not all that important (such as I cannot crochet, nor do I care to, although I could learn to if I wanted to know).  I also have many strengths, as does everyone.  I am highly competitive with myself (and very stubborn).  I set my sights high and normally achieve my goals.  I do not believe in failure, I believe only in a chance to try it again a different way until it gets done.  My biggest weakness is my kids... much the same as any mother or parent out there.  And that is precisely who he sees me with every day.  I am not sure where he got the idea I was anything more than average, but evidently he must have got it from what he has seen over the last few months.  

So, I wonder what his perception of me actually is?  I wonder what perception people have of me in general?  It makes a person think about what perceptions they have of others that are most likely not the full truth.  It also puts the old cliché "Don't judge a book by it's cover" into perspective.

Food for thought.