A SECOND THOUGHT ABOUT OUR FIRST IMPRESSION
Pic.: Alwyn Mathias
“Be the type of person you want to meet.”
-Anonymous
The
first impression is the last impression.
While a major part of it may be true, I don’t think, any
first impression – no matter how good or bad it is – can be ‘the last’ impression.
And, because, somewhere it is ingrained into our psyche,
that our first impression is very, very important – that, it is the ultimate, the
decisive, the final impression, we go overboard to present our best profile
before the world…
Yes, I, too, do it… Take me anywhere… Put me before
anyone – right from my new students to their parents… to a bank manager, government
official, or even a new neighbor or friend… Yes, somewhere at the back of my
mind, it is deeply seated: that, I must leave my best impression before them!
So, I do… And, I am sure, like me, everyone else does,
too.
But, then, I am in touch with another thought in my mind,
which, invariably, pops up every time I try to leave that ‘first-and-best’
impression before anyone. The thought is: “How sincere I am?”… “Am I just
bluffing?”… “Am I just fooling?”
Well, I alone know the answer to this question… For, I
alone know whether I am sincere or not…Whether I am just bluffing and fooling
or not…
It is said, nobody is such a fool in this world to be
fooled by us over and over again. So, in my desperation to ‘sell’ myself well,
I might succeed hoodwinking someone once, twice or thrice… But, always?
Impossible!
My bluff will be exposed, soon… and, for sure.
Agreed, I
may not get a second chance to leave the first impression. But, once I have
left my first impression – once I am ‘in’ – yes, then what?
Only I
can answer that question.
GERALD D’CUNHA
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