Appearance, Personality, and Character

A person's appearance is referred to one's physical look – tall, short, fat, thin, attractive, etc. A person's personality is referred to the ways one expresses oneself to others – cheerful, stern, boring, engaging, open, talkative, etc. A person’s character is referred to how the other people perceive who the person is – honest, deceptive, kind, stingy, brave, timid, etc. Appearance, personality, and character play vital roles in our private and social lives as well as in the workplace.

We spend a lot of time and energy to make our appearance have a favorable first impression on the others. Then, we will use our personality to start a relationship with the people we like. But, it is our character that will limit what kind of friends we have, affect how we get along with people at work, and explain why our family life never turns out the way we want.

Appearance

In an overcrowded, stressful, and everyone-minding-one’s-own-business world, we are conditioned to judge and form an opinion based on people's appearance. We do not have the time and patience to get to know everyone we are in contact with. Based on these subjective impressions, we choose the people whom we want to know better.

We understand that appearance is not always what it seems to be. But, a favorable appearance opens doors and opportunities. As a result, we devote a lot of time to clothing, cosmetics, and grooming to hide our shortcomings, enhance our strong features, and transform ourselves to what others expect:

1) Clothing – we have different outfits for home, recreation, social event, workplace, etc.,

2) Cosmetics – we use perfume, hairspray, lipstick, shaving cream, eyelash, toupee, etc.,

3) Grooming – we go to beauty salons, Gym, massage, etc.

We treat people differently based on appearance and vice versa. It is a game that we learn to play to make it in the modern overpopulated world.

Personality

Through interaction, we come to know the person's personality: talker or doer, emotional or calm, easy-going or serious, open or reserved, generous or penny-pinching, opinionated or complimentary, etc. A person's personality can enhance as well as bring down one's appearance:

1) A handsome person with a loud mouth and a critical view has few friends,

2) A stern-looking person who is easygoing and likes to share personal stories will have many friends,

3) An ordinary person becomes attractive with charm and persuasiveness.

A person’s personality is a manifestation of how the person interacts with the surrounding people on a short-term basis. As the person matures, the personality makes an adjustment based on the demands of the social scenes:

1) An opinionated loudmouth will learn to tune down one's actions in the face of the shrinking friends,

2) A carefree and unsuspecting person will learn to be more discrete after being taken advantage of,

3) A cheerful and optimistic person will learn to moderate one’s view on life after a reality check.

Character

An attentive and honest-looking person can be a schemer and spread rumors to his advantage. A cold and cynical person can have a warm and caring heart. A plain and innocent-looking person can be possessive, jealous, and or revengeful in a relationship. It takes time and certain circumstances to reveal a person's character.

A person’s character is a manifestation of how a person attempts to solve uncommon problems under uncommon circumstances:

1) Friendship and family are started with attractions based on appearance and personality. How long will they last depends on how people react in times of trouble and behave during distress,

2) At the workplace, appearance and personality only have a short-term effect on how well the person gets along with the co-workers. In the long run, it depends on how the person reacts to criticism, handles mistakes, and solves job-related problems,

3) At the social gathering, appearance and personality play an important role in the person’s popularity. Since the gathering is mainly for fun and game occurring after work or during weekends, the relationship remains superficial.

Diversity

Our appearance, personality, and character determine how others think of us. They influence who can be our friends, what kind of family we will have, and if we can be trusted in the job. There is only so much we can do to change our appearance, modify our personality, and conceal our character. Since we live in a world of diversity, no matter what and who a person is, one will always be able to find a place where one belongs and plays the role that one is given:

1) To make a living, one can find work in the medical profession, academic institution, civil service, entertainment industry, in the shady side of the society, or in the underworld that serves the needs of the darker side of humanity.

2) In the personal life, one has few difficulties to find someone with similar expectations, ideals, and or dreams,

3) Some people with athletic appearance, movie star personality, and agreeable character may seem to have an easier life. But they may suffer severe illness, short term memory, and or financial misfortune

4) Some people with a physical disability, dull personality, and unattractive character, may enjoy a healthy body, financial stability, and or a peaceful and happy family.