This is not a post I would normally make and certainly not what I thought my first post to the #HiveLearners would be.
However, I saw that there was a contest going on with the topic of looks can be deceiving and while I may not be conforming to the contest rules exactly, I'll throw my opinion out there.
I wasn't sure how to come at this topic. I was thinking about talking about duck syndrome. Where someone looks placid like a duck gliding on the water but is really paddling furiously underneath.
I thought about talking about social media where people use photoshop, angles, and lighting to make their lives look perfect when they are really very different.
In the end I thought I would take a moment to talk about a couple people I met on Hive and about myself. To the people I mention I hope you do not take offence. I think highly of you and mean no bad intention.
@Saffisara
If I ever misjudged someone on first meeting it would be Saffi. I started with Hive totally unintentionally by playing Splinterlands. When I joined Splinterlands I was lucky enough to find a guild far better than I could have ever hoped to find. Little did I know at the time but I was a minnow among some big fish in the Hive community. enginewitty was our guild leader..and now I know he's also a witness on Hive. C0ff33a was another member who is also a witness on Hive and while maybe not a whale he is certainly a strong user. (I didn't want to put an @ in front of their name because, well, don't want anyone to think I'm vote begging).
I'm getting sidetracked though. Our team's #1 brawler was Saffi. I've played collectible card games since 1993 (the beginning of Magic the Gathering). In all the time I've gone to competitions the competitors have almost exclusively been young males. The top competitors usually older teenagers or young adults with little life and poor personality skills.
What was my initial impression of Saffi? That she was a maladjusted teenage guy who spent way too much money on a card game.
I was to totally wrong
If there was ever a contest for the embodiment of a Greek Goddess I would totally nominate Saffi as the goddess Hestia (Goddess of Home and Hearth). She is always the first to welcome a newcomer and make them feel at home. The first to give a hug to someone feeling down. Also probably the first to give a sneaky butt hug when you are least expecting it.
Add in beautiful young woman with vibrant personality and you've got my current view on Saffi.
Absolutely not a maladjusted young teen male 😁
This was the first person that I met while on the Actifit community. As I usually do I take a quick look at someone posts and profile when I meet them. I came to this page and took a quick glance.
After a brief glance I thought, cool, this guy is a lucky photographer who get to photograph a beautiful model. Must be nice to have that job!
After a few weeks and a few more comment from her I re-read the post and found out..... She's the model??? Seriously? Why on earth would she be messaging me? A little more looking and I find out...she's a moderator on Actifit.. ahh, that makes sense, cool.
Then again the mental image I have is beautiful young woman, moderator on the chat, things must be great. Except I read this post:
Okay, I was totally wrong. A picture of a young beautiful model doesn't mean there isn't more going on underneath.
if there was a nomination category for wounded angel she would be my nomination
Then there is me. I've had people mention that they've seen me walking around the park while I'm working in the Pharmacy. I honestly don't know what they think when they see me. I'm walking around the park for probably two or three hours every day. In the morning for an hour or more and in the evening for another hour or more. I have an active dog who needs his exercise and I live closeby. While walking I'm taking pictures to post on #Actifit and playing CoinHunt to make some extra cryptocoin. I'll likely be wearing a 15 year old jacket that I've had repaired numerous times. Wearing old comfortable jeans that are frayed at the hem. Comfortable but worn out shoes. You may see me picking up broken glass by the side of the trail or maybe putting a soda can into a sack.
I'm pretty sure most people's impression of me is that I'm a vagabond or homeless person.
I'm not
In fact I am probably richer than most of the people I pass by in the park. However, keeping the park clean is important to me so I take the time to pickup the trash that others walk by. I don't care about what others think so I wear what is comfortable. I want to stay active so I put on over 20,000 steps a day (usually)
Now I'm writing this post because of a weekly contest :
"Looks can be deceiving"
I'm supposed to be doing this :
There are many times we've made judgements based on what we saw. From people to things, we judged because of what we saw. Tell us about the time you judged by looks and you ended up being wrong. And then the time you also judged by looks but ended up being right. What lesson did both experiences teach you?
I'm supposed to tell of times I've judged by looks and be right. I want to do that but I really don't want to. When I make a judgement and I think that it is right, how am I to be sure? I suppose I could find something if I really tried.
However, I think the far more important thing for me is to learn from my mistakes.
I'm human so I don't think I can help from things making an initial impression one me. However, I've lived long enough to not judge from an initial impression and try to look a little deeper.
What has that taught me in life? Well, I think it has reinforced a bible verse I've heard since I was young.
"7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Or possibly not to make quick decisions as there is always more underneath that I don't know.
Thanks for reading. And to Saffi and Priyan, hope you don't mind me mentioning you here.