What You See, What You Don't See

What you see

is the beautiful garden.

What you don't see

is the love and care that went into every plant, every flower, every shrub, every tree, to keep them alive, and bring out their beauty.

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What you see

is an older couple dancing, and still very much in love.

What you don't see

are the little and big things they did every day, to make sure they would not take each other for granted, and would keep their love ever fresh.

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What you see

is the graduate with their cap and gown.

What you don't see

is the the juggling of work, study, and family responsibilities, and the financial sacrifices that were made, or hoops they had to jump through, to achieve their dreams.

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What you see

is the beautiful dress.

What you don't see

is the hours spent on thinking about the design, fabric, drape, and embellishments, by the designer who tailored it.

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What you see

is someone who is relaxed, and at peace with life.

What you don't see

are the tough challenges life threw at them, and the hours of meditation, and inner work they did, to arrive at a place of peace.

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What you see 

is the self-assured professional.

What you don't see

is the struggles of their early days, and all the humiliations, setbacks, and disappointments they went through, at different stages of their professional journey.

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What you see

is the comfortably bi-lingual or trilingual person.

What you don't see

are the outside influences, and the internal motivations and decisions, which resulted in their becoming fluent in another language.

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What you see

is a masterfully organized event.

What you don't see

is the planning, the coordinating, the sourcing, and the leaving no stone unturned, that went into the making of that event.

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What you see

is a person in great shape.

What you don't see

are the foods avoided, the hours devoted to exercise, and the many changes in lifestyle made to get into that kind of shape.

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What you see

is the music video on youtube with so many views.

What you don't see

is the day in and day out devotion of the musician or artist, to her or his craft, and the many hours, days, months, and years they had to slog it out, in invisibility.

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What you see

is the scrumptious dish placed in front of you.

What you don't see

is the time, energy, passion, love, and attention, and the trials and errors that went into perfecting it.

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What you see

is a picture on a mantel, or a picture in an album.

What you don't see

are the memories and footprints of the person, or people you see in the picture.

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What you see 

is everyone's Point B.

And unless you get to know them well, you will never know where their Point A started.

In fact, it's only if you get to know them really well - in intimate conversation - that you will get to know where their Point A started.

And the different things that happened along the way.

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Here's to you and me discovering how everyone got to their Point Bs.

And appreciating the individual journeys taken to get to those Point Bs.

Whether the Point B is a beautiful garden, a lovely dress, a masterfully organized event, a diploma or a degree, professional success, getting fit, or just finding peace.

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Recommended next reading: If You Take a Ride Down Memory Lane.