Last update: December 02, 2016
There is a well-known saying that holds that we never stop getting to know people and who, when we believe we have succeeded, surprise us. It is one of the most beautiful sensations you can experience, unless it happens because we have overestimated them. We should never underestimate others, because they could make us change our mind.
Any kind of relationship needs to renew itself with new discoveries about the other that we were unaware of and they improve a lot if both have the ability and the desire to surprise. Despite this, it is the discoveries that have a nuance with which we must be careful, especially when we meet someone for the first time.
“I have always had a passion for details, for small, almost invisible events that happen around us. Observing people teaches us many things ”.
-Marc Levy-
That said, all of us we make assumptions about what someone we just met might be like, a habit that, in a certain sense, is completely human and that does not have to be harmful, rather involuntary. If this first impression has a negative tinge, beware, because we usually tend to confirm our first impressions, rather than trying to disprove them.
Don't underestimate me, try to really get to know me
It is true that there are some people who talk a lot more than they think and who sometimes say more than they know. We could even say that each of us has done it at least once in our life. However, this is not the general rule: most of us say less than we know, think more than we talk, and notice more than we show.
It is a self-defense mechanism against the fear of emotionally and completely undressing in front of someone. Other times, we simply like to let ourselves be known little by little and we don't want this knowledge to exceed the speed imposed by time itself or the doses of shared affection.
“All the men I know are, in a sense, superior to me. In that sense, I learn from them ”.
-Ralph W. Emerson-
For this reason, we must be careful, because otherwise we may miss great people, and we must not judge before due, because we may make mistakes which we will regret in the future. We need to make room for what others can teach us, not underestimate them, not label them ahead of time and, from here, cultivate healthy relationships from which to always learn something new.
Don't underestimate me or it will be your problem
In reality, it is not good for our inner peace to overestimate ourselves, but we also don't like to see how others value us less than what we actually have as people, because no one should ever dare to make others feel more. smaller than they really are.
“People with a small soul always try to make others smaller”.
-Carlos RuĂz ZafĂłn-
If this has happened to you and you have known how to react to this situation, you should feel proud of the courage you have shown. If, on the other hand, you have not reacted as you would have liked, for the next time you have to remember that those who underestimate you actually have a problem with themselves.
People who behave in this way certainly have low self-esteem and do not know it: it is a way of responding to their inner malaise that, usually, is paid for with those who make less noise.
The smaller they consider me, the bigger I can be
Underestimating someone means expecting less from that person than they can give and it is then that the moment comes when we take a blow in the chest: neither the limits nor the true potential of others can be known, even if there are those who believe the contrary and ends up making this mistake. When they bet less on us, it is when the more personal goals we achieve.
I am tired of listening to people who say they are able to immediately "frame" a person or understand what path they follow. Instead, they should boast that they know how to give people few opportunities to prove that they are different from what they initially believed.
It is not uncommon for those who think this way and consider another person unpleasant to end up adopting this same behavior thus increasing the likelihood of receiving the same treatment in response and, therefore, confirming what they thought at the beginning.
There are wonderful people who would do things we never imagined and others who, at the right moment, give that grain of sand we didn't hope for. There are those who, one day, surprise us with a detail that shows us that they know us better than we thought and there are those who grow "one step at a time" because they believe in their abilities, even if they are surrounded by people who they say "no, you are not capable".
Do not allow others to underestimate you, do not underestimate those around you and never forget the surprise factor that everyone has, because the unexpected and the unexpected are part of our essence as human beings and, therefore, of life itself.
