Identity or Perception?

Identity is what someone associates his/her beliefs, characteristics, and qualities with while perception is the way others see you. Often, we are the harshest critics of ourselves by comparing each other and constantly picking at our own flaws rather than choosing to see our strengths. People want to please others, so they frequently create a perfect image of themselves. To make matters worse, perception has become even more complex due to the advancement of technology and increased use of social media: people often judge others based on their profile picture, how many followers they have or how many likes they get. Studies even show that social media can cause depression because people constantly compare their own lives to the unrealistic, exaggerated, exciting ones that others falsely project to make themselves look better. "The grass is always greener on the other side" is the perfect idiom to describe this: we always think others have it better, when ironically that isn't the case at all. That person who we compare ourselves with is just trying to give off a wonderful perception of their self; it's not their true identity. Sometimes we become so obsessed with what others think that we let it take control over our lives. But in reality, the best thing to do is to just stop putting up a disguise and allow people to see the real you. If everyone acts like their true self, the vast differences between identity and perception could diminish and perhaps barely exist at all.