It's easy to take everything at face value. For example, if you see a girl smiling and laughing with her friends in the cafeteria, chances are you probably think that she is happy. It would make sense, right?
What if we look past the surface? If you look a little closer you'll see that she is actually trying way too hard to make sure that she says the right thing at the right time. Did you catch that split second where she stopped smiling? You probably didn't, it's her realizing she said something that no one paid attention to or she said something that got looks of disapproval. You won't see it but she's going to beat herself up over that one accident for the rest of the night.
Fast forward to her regular school day. You watch as she tries to lay low in the back of class. Carefully making sure she doesn't get called on by the professor. She writes down answers to every question he or she asks, just in case she has to speak in class. God forbid she has to speak in class without an answer written down - that's her worst fear. A written down answer is her safety without it she'll struggle to stay afloat. She'll stumble over her words and you won't notice but her hands will start sweating. As soon as she's tried to get through without that safety, she'll write what she wishes she could have said and spend the rest of the class paying more attention to what she didn't say than to what others are saying.
After class, she might go to a meeting or two, she might even hang out with some friends for a little while, but most of the time you can find her sitting in her room minding her own business. It's the only time she feels relaxed. She doesn't have to worry about what to say or who she's going to run into next. It's the only time that she can unwind most days.
Because in all honesty, trying to be an extrovert when you're an introvert is hard. Making sure you talk to people even when it makes you uncomfortable is tiring. No, not just hard or tiring, it's exhausting and most days she's exhausted. She won't show it because of the homework and commitments she has. Most days she doesn't even notice it because she's actually gotten used to it.
So what do you think now. Is she really okay?
What if I told you that most days this hypothetical girl is me?
You see, everything isn't as it seems and everyone is going through something that you can't see. Remember that. Always.
