Image Vs Reputation?

There is a difference between the image we uphold for approval, and for external validation versus our reputation. Your reputation is much more important than your image because self image can change. No matter how many times you improve, your reputation can cause others to still doubt you. They may look at you and say wow you are a great person but your reputation for paying your credit card bills are shaky. Or they may say I don't like him but his reputation for getting the job done is high, so I will hire him. When we use, abuse, or mistreated others in the past, we can lose others' trust, this does not necessarily mean our image is ruined, this means that our reputation or our track record is ruined. A person can have a bad reputation for borrowing money or items but never return. A bad reputation for not being on time, or taking care of important responsibilities, yet many are OK with the person because they are not a negative or dramatic person. Their image is not ruined by their reputation. Image on the other hand can change because we are still learning about who we are. Many people respond and even accept the image we hold for the world, so if we were found guilty of a shameful act, we can learn from that experience and become better people. Others will learn to accept our new self-image, slowly accepting that we have changed. Many who live for image assume that they are protecting their reputation, but image is an illusion, so you can not protect a false image. This is why many crash feeling flawed and useless, it is the False Self that makes us feel Broken. Besides, Knowing Yourself removes the idea that you even have an image to uphold. But, no matter how much we have improved, our reputation still precedes us.