It's not easy to be me

People tend to fantasize about all sorts of things. Sometimes they oversimplify them; other times, they overcomplicate them. But the fact is that, no matter what, we all see things through our own perspectives and points of view and that may distort the reality.

Of course everyone has their own problems, their own achievements, their own failures and their own glories. Everyone does! I can guarantee that. No one is perfect and no one is a complete fraud. If you start analyzing people, you'll see that every single one has their layers of complexity.

So I remember one episode, when a friend of mine, married with a child, whom I saw as having such a sweet life, told me that MY life was easy. And I'll explain the context, so you can understand what was going on. I was planning a trip to one of those ecotourism sites around Brasilia, to go hiking, and I invited her to go with me. We would both bring our sons and have fun.

She said "Oh dear! I wish! You can do that because your life is easy, as you're unmarried and your son is independent. So you don't have to report everything you're doing to your husband nor take care of every step of your child because he's not capable of doing it himself".

I couldn't help feeling a mix of emotions, anger, confusion, pitty, who know what more? I told her that my life could be seen as "easy" if she thought that not having a husband to report the actions and having an independent child was always good. But she might have "forgotten" that not having a husband also meant having less income and less help at home, and that having an independent child might have been the result of having to work extra hours and leaving the child so many times unattended in order to do so.

I know it's complicated to put in words what I want to say. But summarizing, I'd say that everyone needs to exercise their abilities to see things through macro and micro perspectives. As in macro, everyone is the same. We are all people, human beings, with needs and desires, doing our part, good or bad, to the society. As in micro, however, everyone is peculiar, with their own qualities and flaws, being unique. So in micro, everyone is special, irreplaceable, for only that individual can be who they are, doing things their way. In macro, on the other hand, everyone can be replaced. Your job can be done by others and if you don't do a good job, they'll find someone else, no matter how special and unique you are.

So, before you start thinking about how nice it is to have my life, just analyze a little bit more thoroughly. IT'S NOT EASY TO BE ME!