Appearance vs Reality.

I had a friend who was really shy to invite any of us to his home, and when asked about why he's shy about it, he said that all his friends lived in big houses that were nice and sophisticated, unlike his home which was small, and his building was old, didn't have parking for cars, no swimming pool, no gym, and no hefty rent. Only later did he realise that all those friends of his, lived in big HOUSES with small hearts, unlike him whose entire family lived in a small HOME with huge hearts- very generous people when it comes to helping others in need. He realised that his friends lived in new HOUSES with no sense of warmth among family members, unlike him, who lived in an old HOME with warm relations among family members. He realised that his friends lived in HOUSES with amenities just next to them, but never spent time with their families, unlike him, who lived in a HOME which didn't have so many amenities around it but managed to spend time with his family regularly.

He used to think that the parents of his friends were so caring that they allowed them to get a driver's licence, bought him a car, gave him money to spend. He used to think that his friends lived a large-sized life, with all the grandeur. But then he realised that all the grandeur was bloated up due to there being nothing to fill the voids in their life- lack of a proper family, lack of care, lack of no one being there to help them develop their personality, lack of guidance.

Take this picture for instance. All you can see is the congested and cramped space. The alley seems to be utterly boring to live in, but you never know how happy people there are. You never know how satisfied people living there are, with their life.

This realisation is something which I believe we all need to achieve, for what matters is the reality, not the appearance. What matters is who we are from within, not how we dress outside. What matters is what we really intend to do, not what we speak on the outside. I think that when we achieve this realisation, that's when we can call ourselves truly mature.