Beautifully written, Anne. Ivana Marie, author of Playing to Win in Work and Life explains why we shouldn’t bother defending people’s perception, especially if it works to your advantage, explains the process well:

Perception is more important than reality. If someone perceives something to be true, it is more important than if it is in fact true. This doesn’t mean you should be duplicitous or deceitful, but don’t go out of your way to correct a false assumption if it plays to your advantage.