To Be Liked....Why Bother

Ever felt like you wanted to be loved by everyone? People or after school specials let you think that all you have to do is be yourself. Be true to yourself they say. People will like you just the way you are. But being yourself won't guarantee you'll be liked by everyone.

I'm sure everyone tries to show the best of who they are whenever they meet someone. They act open and friendly or shy and quiet just based on how they respond in social situations. There's so much to a person that we'll never know with each person we meet except for the ones closest to us. We'll never really know why a certain will act a certain way when we meet someone. Everyone is different. Yet, so many of us ignore what could be on the inside and just create our own perceptions on what we think is on the out.

I could like someone because they seem so nice and open with me. But a few days later, this same person brushes off my hello and keeps it moving. I'm sitting there wondering what did I do? Did they see me? Or did they just decide to not like me based on what they don't know about me?

People do this to each other all the time and I just don't understand it. It starts off in junior high school/high school and the games continue throughout adulthood. There could be someone everyone finds strange, but they never really take the time to know that person because of what one person said. And then everyone starts to follow. Two people are real cool with each other one day and don't even talk to each other the next because of some miscommunication that could have been mended. A girl smiles and laughs with a companion she secretly or not so secretly hates based on whatever.

It happens all the time. Misread signals, nervousness, akwardness, weird behavior or anger due to just something going on in a person's life. You're sitting there just trying to be the best you can be with someone, but something about you just doesn't cut it. There's so many misinterpretations or just plain dislike that can cause a person not to like someone.

If you're trying to be liked by everyone, it's pointless. You could be the most likeable person in the world, but there will always be someone who doesn't like you. The point of my random rant is to just follow the advice of those after school specials: Be yourself. Regardless of how honest you are about yourself, a wrong or right perception about you can create a negative attitude.

Random thoughts I'm having tonight. There could be some fallacy to my rant, but my opinion is my opinon. I just hate it when people will take a person's character and twist it into something negative without really knowing the person. I'm just curious as to why so many of us are so socially defensive. There's so many great personalities out there who you'll never get to know because of some misjudged perception. Only God can judge in my opinion. But hey, it helps against the people out there who you really should stay away from.

We are who we choose to be and if someone don't like you for whatever reason, forget them. It just frustrates me why people choose to not like someone; it usually comes from some random fault that everyone has. Just like it takes time to love someone, shouldn't it take time to hate? But I guess if your gut is telling you something, follow it to some extent.

Stay true to yourself and never take for granted the wonderful people who like who you for you. To be liked should all count on the people who take the time to get to know you, not the ones who first find fault.