We Are What We Do

 We Are What We Do

Barack Obama is facing a big problem: how to persuade his people to vote for him for a second run? There is no doubt that a large sum of Americans is losing faith in him, for they will never forget what Mr. Obama have pledged before, however failed to carry out. Before long, this gentleman made a shocking-world utterance that gay marriage should be legitimated in the United States. Is it a begging for polls? I am not sure, but it is possible to be. People who have lost faith in him said that, he is much more like a persuader rather than a doer. Obama does have a gift in persuading and his “yes, we can” used to impress me massively. However, we are what we do. His performance may be hard to satisfy the majority.

Today my topic is not about this guy. Let us talk about this saying: we are what we do.

First let us talk about masks. It is not an exaggeration if I insist that people all have their masks in this sophisticated society, and for some people, they may have several. We may all know how to disguise and how to perform well before someone else, since we may want to implant a positive impression in them. Sometimes this kind of disguising works. For example, to buy a girl’s heart, a guy knows the importance of performing well and concealing his shortcoming in front of her and sometimes this kind of concealing literally works. I do not intend to blame it since it is we human beings’ intuition and sub-consciousness. We are born to know it. What I want to say is no mask is abiding, or long lasting. Sooner or later, your mask will put off and people will see your true face ultimately. Like the preceding example I just mentioned, even the guy tries his best to pretend to be good-tempered before his girl, he will expose his true temple sooner or later. It is possible a marvelous mask may exert a perfect first impression on others, yet others’ impression on you will ultimately change after they witness what you have done.

So, is it means that we should be ourselves all the time and throw our mask forever?

It depends.

For a politician, it is a must to have a positive mask in front of media, whatever they really are. Take Bo Xilai as an example. In China, he is more or less a hero. He is a hero who has fight against gangsters and has made Chongqing province’s economy soaring dramatically. That is what we all know about him: a hero, a good leader, a good husband and father, before his step down. Now we know he is far more than a leader, he is also a schemer, a politician with huge ambitions, and even a killer. However, he can never expose all these ambitions, schemes, and scandals to us before he quit the screen. Someone failed to disguise something, yet someone succeeded.

However, for a transcendent artist, it is impossible to hide his emotions since emotions are inspirations of masterpieces. A sophisticated artist can never work out an astounding masterpiece. That is true. For them, to be themselves is necessary. They do not have masks.

It seems that I have shifted the topic, but never mind, this is a blog and may be I am free to write something irrelevant⋯⋯

Let us come back to this topic now. What we do literally defines ourselves. We cannot change others but we can change ourselves. A former criminal can change others’ view towards him through his benefactions. Also, a former hero can become a public enemy if he chooses a wrong way. What we need to do is not pretending, but literally change something. We cannot pretend to be good to win others’ trust and acknowledgment but we can change to be better to obtain others’ respect. Never refuse change and just do it. We are what we do and we are the one who defines ourselves.