Throughout high school, even now that I am an adult, there have been labels or situational defined groups that a person most closely identifies themselves as belonging. Sure it’s easy to say that that jock over there is good at sports, but what about the punks or the weirdoes? What about the geeks and the gold-diggers?
I’m sure by this point you wondering where I’m going with this… so I just want to take this moment to express the fact that I have often wondered what people say about me, you know, when I’m not around.
I know there are some things I, as an individual, should not hear about myself. I admit willingly I have had moments and thoughts against my better judgment. I am absolutely certain I do not want to read minds as I am equally as certain that I would find most people would find me strange if they read mine.
So how do I define myself? If I had to write one word on a label and wear it around what word would I choose? What word would others choose for me? Or the question that until recently, I guess I never really gave it some extensive thought is, what are three words you would use to describe yourself?
I’ll give this some thought, nothing wrong with a little self-reflection… am I right?
Okay here are my words- considerate, productive, and sassy. (I’m going to elaborate, you’re welcome)
I am considerate. When I shovel snow, I don’t block other people in. When I get a drink from a coffee spot, if I happen to spill my coffee while I am stirring in my sugar, I clean up after myself. I hold doors open for other people, I say good morning, I understand people sometimes have bad days, and I generally think about how my actions affect others. People might not always treat me with the same consideration as I treat them, I’m still considerate regardless.
Productive. I set goals. I learn from my mistakes and I get shit done. I hate it when people ask me what my greatest weakness is because when I think I’m weak in a certain aspect of my life, I try my best to improve. I can always be a better version of myself. It is my belief that in order to be both considerate and productive you must also be sassy.
The other day someone told me I was “sassy.” What’s funny is I can, at times, absolutely agree with that.
I am sassy. I have Sassy-ness, Miss Sass- a -Frass herself, that’s me. (Too far?) I think that people say this to me because I am so damn honest. I usually say how I feel about a situation because if you always tell the truth then you never have to remember what you said. Sometimes I wonder what drives people to live double lives, to cheat, to steal, and to lie. The other day I told my neighbors I was going inside because I had stuff to do and I didn’t want to hang out with them anymore. I just used a humorous tone when I said it (that’s sass) but what I said was absolutely true.
I didn’t want to hang anymore. I said it. They laughed. It was honest and we are still cool. I should tell you being honest is really not that hard. Being likable while being honest is the tricky part. To me, it’s all about three things- tone, delivery, and word-choice. You can say anything to anyone if you use proper – tone, delivery, and word-choice. Being conscious and considerate to people and their feelings leads to a humorous but productive environment in my book; mix that with remaining professional and I would work well with you.
There will always be a bit of myself that identifies with various words and groups of people. I just try to balance what I am with what others might think of me- in general, I think I am a good person. I don’t want anyone to consider this conceit or advice, I just took a moment to think about myself. Sometimes it’s difficult to reflect on ourselves without thinking about judgment-anyone know what I mean?
Just remember that being happy is realizing that no matter what judgments you encounter, if you really want to find a person that can change your life for the better, you only need to look in the mirror. Exercise happiness by smiling at yourself in the mirror and reminding yourself that (even if only sometimes) you rule.