Sunday, April 20, 2014

Fantasy Personalities

We spend our entire lives being told that 'it's what's inside that counts' and that who you are inside is the 'real you'.

I think this is complete and utter horseshit.

At best, the person you are 'inside' is the person you want to be. The way you act and the way you behave is the 'real you'.

To put this in an overly cynical way, the world is only interested in what it can get from you. It doesn't matter if you have the heart of a saint and the best intentions in the world if you never act on them.

Basically, if you act like a good, caring person, you are a good, caring person. If you act like an asshole, you're an asshole, plain and simple.

For example, let's say one of your co-workers gets a phonecall that a family member has been in an accident and needs someone to cover so they can go to the hospital. If you volunteer to cover, that means you're pulling a 14 hour day.

Who is the real nice guy? The person who actually volunteers to stay, or the person who keeps quiet but is full of sympathy and feels really, really bad about not volunteering?

The person who kept quiet is sitting there thinking "If everyone knew how bad I feel about this, they'd know what a nice guy I am."... but the truth is, you're really not a nice guy... because when someone was really in need, you decided you'd rather go home at your regular time than work a few extra hours to help them out.

The nice guy is the guy pulling the extra 6 hours to help someone out. It's what you do, not what you think.

Basically, who you are inside is the fantasy, ideal version of yourself. The person who's always willing to help, the person who'll step up to defend a stranger...but if you don't act on it, it's a fantasy.

The 'real you' is the person you are, not the person you want to be.



No comments: