The sun sets on another day…
Sunset was very beautiful. I watched the sky through broken pine trees, and somewhere in the middle of it all the beauty shone through. No matter how hard beauty tries to remain hidden, it is still there.
I was doing table topics yesterday with Toastmasters. If you haven’t ever interacted with toastmasters it is a group of people that help you speak publicly more effectively. At the minimum the group helps you understand the flaws in your speaking by looking at uncomfortable pauses, the dreaded uh, and the more dreaded um. Table topics are interesting little tidbits of questions that are supposed to put you on the spot and have you think quickly, formulate a response, and present that response as effortlessly as possible.
One of the questions asked was, “if 10 people were asked to describe you in one word, how would they describe you?”.
It was a unique question and led me here where I need to expound upon it. My answer was similar to what I’m saying now, the 10 different people may have seen 10 different ideas of who I am, and 10 different people may not see me.
Of course there will be those people that would define me as “chatty” or “talkative” but is that truly who I am. Depending on who they are some would describe me as “uncomfortable” and I have been told that before that my personality in public can overwhelm others quite easily. In that vein I have also been called “a lot”, but that’s two words and really wouldn’t be fair. A guy I know called me “exhausting” as I ran circles around him at work. Another person called me “overwhelming” and “unpredictable” which was unique. Still others called me, “safe” and “protective” and it was the safe that put me in the friend zone when I was in my teens and early 20s often. Perhaps being safe is a good thing.
Of course there are others who find me “intimidating” and I have verified several people, including an author I thought I trusted, who tells others I am “evil”. There are numerous people who have no idea who I am that refer to me as negatives of a high variety. To me it’s a little interesting because the more animated they are the more I consider the idea of gauging the strength of your enemies. That part makes me laugh.
I smiled for a moment as I remembered being referred to as “honorable” and “caring” and felt a tear when I was called “patriotic”. It’s also nice to hear people talk about the idea of “intelligent” and potentially the idea of “driven”. I sat thinking about this for far too long. At the end of it all, the only thing I was sure of is that the biggest word that I needed to consider was “myself”. In the end I am myself, and all the things that others think about me may affect me in some small way but I define who I am. That is easy, I am myself.
Who are you? Does it matter what people think about you? Do you rise above what others think? Do you find a way to take a step back and just enjoy the moments with yourself? I hope so. If I could give any advice to my children and hope that they take it, it would be that they focus on themselves and not worry about the opinions of others unless they’re true. At that point it it’s up to them to change and grow. It’s up to you to decide who you are in one word.
So as the sun sets on another day, one word. I’m sitting here laughing, I’m sitting here thinking about the world, and perhaps the one word that I should be always is “patient” because not everything can happen at once, not everyone can see your opinion at the same time, sometimes you can’t find your way in a moment, sometimes the world is out there just waiting for you and you can’t get there as fast as you want to, sometimes a love is waiting for you but you haven’t found it yet, sometimes success is right around the corner, sometimes everything will go your way in a short time, and all you need to do is be patient. Be patient every day and find your way, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and find your word…