As most of you know, I do a TON of driving every day. To and from work adds up to about 100 miles and so that gives me lots and lots of time to listen to the radio and/or CDs that Jaimie burns for me. As it turns out, I have been listening to Taylor Swift a lot lately and despite what you think about her, I have to say, this 18 year old has been through some serious s$%t for what she sings about. I commend her for her honesty and wanted to bring to light one of my favorite songs: Tell Me Why from the new CD Fearless.
At the beginning of the song she says, "You might think I'm bulletproof, but I'm not." This got me thinking about something completely different than what she is actually singing about- which is boys, of course because apparently at 18 and you sing country music, you have one of two things to sing about- rain and love. It's weird but that's the conclusion that I've drawn. So anyway, this got me thinking that there are a ton of perceptions out there about certain people, I use myself as an example because this is my blog, and it's just funny because I think 9 times out of 10 they are misconceptions.
People probably see my loud, ok..very loud mouth, over-excited personality that is overkill for surrounding audiences most of the time and think...wow- she must really have her shit together, be really confident and/or she's just really really ridiculously annoying. Yeah...no. I'm actually super self-conscious in a lot of situations and have had little to no success in the dating world - to bring this back to Taylor's idea of the important part of life - and it just makes me wonder (side note: if I REALLY wanted to sound like Carrie Bradshaw right there, I could have by saying- 'I couldn't help but wonder...' but I didn't and I'm very proud of that): why don't people take more time getting to know people before the 'jump' to conclusions?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure I do this all the time. I do happen to think that I'm relatively good at reading people, but I get things wrong all the time. And girls are NOTORIOUS for assuming things. Chances are, if a girl walks into a bar and you are out with some of your guy friends you immediately check her out and pray that whatever you have on looks better than what she has working..because if not - that won't work for you and you hate her. It's unfortunately the truth. Girls are bitches and I'll be the first to admit that...about other girls. Not myself of course :)
I truly believe that everyone would get along a hell of a lot better if they asked more questions and actually took the time to get to know people for who they really are- rather than who they think they are. I'm pretty sure that I've made a lot of friends this way. I mean there's this guy I work with - no names of course - and he is, compared to me, on the quiet side. Well..instead of pinpointing him as a complete shy guy who brings little if anything at all to the table, I remained open minded and come to find out..he's really funny. Who knew?
So there's my two sense (cents- you decide on that one) on that. I'd love to know what you think and if you have ever been a victim of these assumptions...because you know what people say about assumptions, right? It makes an ass out of you and mptions. Got that?
Goodnight :)
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We, as humans, don’t like it when things don’t make sense to us. So, when we are confronted with something, we immediately assign it a name, or a classification or a personality trait that makes sense to us. It’s laziness, really. And it’s one of those not-so-great characteristics that we are guilty of.
ReplyDeleteI know I’m guilty of this all the time. When I hear a new music act, for instance, the first thing I do is compare it to something I’ve heard before. I pidgeon-hole them. Like I’ll hear a new performer and I’ll be, like, ‘Hey, he sounds like a latino Kid Rock.’ …or something to that effect.
I know that I’m misjudged all the time. I am quiet at first. I am shy. And one thing I’ve noticed is that when you don’t volunteer information about yourself, people fill in the gaps themselves. (Often incorrectly.)
Over the years, I’ve started caring less and less. I don’t know if it’s age or what, but I just don’t care about changing who I am to cater to someone else’s idea of who I should be. And I don’t think anyone else should either.
But here’s the good news:
It all works to your advantage in the end.
The people who don’t take the time to get to know you are the ones who fade in and out of your life. And the ones who do are the ones who stick with you forever. It’s a natural system for weeding self-centered people out of your life. The only people I care about impressing are the people who take the time to look past their initial impressions and get to know me for who I really am.
It’s a good way to live.
Man I am loving Saul - he really knows what's going on. I have to agree that until you are comfortable in your own skin, you tend to worry about what other people think of you. Once you like yourself, you don't worry about that so much. So he is right that those self-centered, all about me people who pigeonhole you, are not worth your time, while those that you don't make the mistake of assuming things about, turn out to be some of your closest friends. Look at the eclectic group you made in college, coming from a cookie cutter high school. Just shows you how much you've grown.
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