What do you see?

When you look at me do you see a girl who is rude, unapproachable, snobbish? Who thinks she's too good for everyone else? Do you see a mum who just drops her kids at school and runs away because she doesn't want to be involved?

Or do you see that I am afraid and anxious. That I try and avoid social interaction because I don't know what to say, because I'm convinced no one will like me. Do you see the scared little girl who was bullied so badly she didn't want to go to school, the scared little girl who was called names and teased and picked on, who had her things stolen and destroyed, who spent more time hiding in the nurses office than she did in class? Do you see the lonely girl who had no friends to call her own? Do you see the desperate girl who sat in her mother's car and begged not to be sent to school, with tears streaming down her face and sobs choking her words? Do you see the woman who still becomes that scared child when she enters a school. Do you see the woman who does her best to be sociable and friendly despite those fears but sometimes can't? Do you see the woman who shields herself from people so she doesn't get hurt?

Next time you rush to judgement about someone remember that they have a whole life you know nothing about. Next time you judge that school mum for not being as involved as you think she should be remember that she might have endured things she will never share with you. She might still be enduring things that she can't share with you. Next time you write someone off as rude or snobbish remember that the might be scared and try to be a little kinder. Kindness costs nothing but it can be worth so much. Remember, you may know their name, but you will never fully know their story.