They say the glass can be half full or half empty. Some see the fullness, some see the emptiness. But the truth is, it is the same glass, just as the same apple can taste differently to each person who bites it. One tastes sweetness, another tastes sourness. One sees possibility, another sees lack. The object does not change, only the eyes that look, only the tongue that tastes. That is how I remind myself to never be quick to judge. Your experience is not mine, and my truth may be invisible to you. How you see others is often a reflection of how you see yourself.
Would you rather be in prison alone or in prison with people? Life asks these questions quietly, in ways we do not always recognise. For some, life is prison. For others, it is liberation. And yet we all breathe the same air. We all see the same clouds. We all feel the sun on our faces. We all walk under the same moon.
Choices shape us. The elevator instead of the stairs. The rich man over the poor one. The chess pieces are already on the board. Checkmate is not always yours to declare. Sometimes you play to survive. Sometimes you play to win. Sometimes survival itself is victory. And even when the pieces seem trapped, even when the board feels too small, every move matters. Every choice matters.
Perception is both a mirror and a lens. It reflects our own fears, desires, and insecurities. It shows us what we cannot see in others. It shows the invisible prisons and hidden freedoms. One person may feel confined by walls we cannot see. Another may feel liberated in a space we would call suffocating. Yet the air is the same. The sky is the same. The day is the same. The moments are the same. Different eyes, different truths, different choices.
Sometimes it is okay to take the elevator instead of the stairs. Sometimes it is okay to choose comfort over power. Sometimes you play the game quietly and still move the board in ways no one notices. There is no shame in choosing what keeps you alive, what keeps your heart beating, what allows you to see the next day.
Look carefully before you judge. The paths you choose, the stairs you skip, the apples you taste, the pieces you move. They are yours alone. The board belongs to no one. Life is infinite, and only you can play your own moves.
Breathe.