I have heard on National Television a Doctor say that perception is reality.  Of course he is referring to how a person see’s something is reality in their mind.  A beautiful young woman looking in the mirror can see herself as very ugly and deformed while society see’s her as a perfect model.  Recently we had a girl come into our recording studio.  She went into the vocal booth and sang the first song all the way through from top to bottom in the wrong key.  When she listened to the playback she smiled big and wide and said, “It sounds pretty good to me.”  No one was going to convince her otherwise.  Her perception of her vocal ability is that she is star material.  Just like the person that constantly says they are too fat while everyone else see’s them as just right.  Once you figure out how someone perceives something then you can act accordingly.  You can choose to be solemnly honest and cause them to burst into tears or roll with the flow and let them believe as they wish.  There is a fine line in encouraging someone and lying  to them.  We don’t always handle these situations correctly and there is no text book with the correct answers.