“Do you believe in LOVE at first sight or shall I walk by again?”
We all have been in love before and said “I left my heart in….. ”(you fill in the blanks) and his/her smile melted my heart.
Have you ever seen a real heart? It’s a rather unattractive organ.
Yet it is used to represent love, romance, compassion, and feelings. We wouldn’t possibly say “he wears his kidney on his sleeve.”
But since our society puts way too much emphasis on outside appearances and first impressions, the “ugly” heart had to be transformed into a stylish and beautiful image.First impressions are not always fair or what they appear to be. We publish Before and After pictures, and realize quickly that without the bling and accessories, we are all just “normal” people with scars and imperfections. We hide behind our masks of make-up and dress in matched and stylish clothes. We even notice, that when we have our “bling” on, we get treated differently somehow: with more respect and attention.
But children and especially those with special needs don’t hide their feelings or think about making good first impressions. They always wear their WYSIWYG (pronounced “wizzywig”). No, that’s not some funny Halloween outfit or a special wig on top of their heads, but it’s an acronym for What You See Is What You Get.
Although you never get a second chance to make a first impression, how many people are in your life now who granted you a second “walk by” or whom did you grant a second or even third chance? Let me give you a couple of embarrassing examples:
1) Over the weekend we were invited to a birthday party. The birthday girl was Christina’s friend, who also has Down syndrome. It was an open house party with lots of comfortable chairs and tables outside and great food. We sat down at a table and across from Christina sat a lady with lots of peculiar tattoos on her arms and shoulders. The first thing Christina said to that lady was: “You are ugly and I don’t like you.” ….wow, Scotty beam me up right now and this is NOT my child, and Where is her mom and Who raised her???….I wanted to sink into the ground, but I managed to smile at the lady and told her that she didn’t mean it that way. I explained to her that Christina only didn’t like her tattoos. The lady, actually a very beautiful and gracious woman, smiled at me and told me that she understood. After a little while, Christina warmed up to her and told her that she was nice and that she liked her…see, first impressions, each way, are not always fair or correct. When you take the time to get to know someone, you learn that there is so much more to them than just that first sight.
2) Every story has two sides and things are often not what they seem:
Every day I drive to Christina’s school to pick her up when school is over. But she loves her teachers and friends at school so much, that she never wants to come home. The other day, she decided to throw a fit and sat on the curb right in front of our car and refused to get in the car. After waiting 15 minutes in the blazing Arizona sun, I decided to pretend that I was going to leave without her. I walked a couple of parking spots over to where Christina couldn’t see me anymore, but I saw her and kept a continuous eye on her, of course.
She started crying and a couple of teenagers stopped to help the “poor abandoned” little girl. A teacher who saw the “abandoned child” called for back-up on her walky-talky. Pretty soon Christina was surrounded by a group of concerned teachers and students. Having not been privy to the events before their arrival, I looked like a heartless, evil mother who left her poor little disabled girl alone in a parking lot!!!
I knew I had to come out from my hiding place, because the teachers were obviously looking for the adult that was responsible for Christina. I walked towards the ridiculous scene and told everyone that I was her mom and that she was throwing a fit and didn’t want to get in the car.
Do Not Believe In First Impressions, Because Things Are Not Always What They Seem!
We have become so conditioned to believing that outside appearances are most important, when in reality it’s just a bunch of sawdust with a beautiful oak veneer.
“Do you believe in LOVE at first sight or shall I walk by again?”
If you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and I would also love to hear from you: what kind of first impressions have you had that were totally wrong or did you give someone a second chance after a bad first impression?
What are some First Impressions you had that were not what they seemed? Please share in the comments below.
You can find some lovely Love Songs in my Easy Letter Notation Collection HERE
Music Transforms You
Daniela
Leave A Comment