Awhile back I wrote about putting friends in boxes and understanding the role they play within your life. Now I'm going to teach you the art of not fitting into the boxes people put you in. I know, hell of a confusing stance on boxes isn't it?
In life your people will put you into boxes. And for the most part, these will be social or friendship categories that you fall within their circle. But sometimes the people in our lives get a little too actively involved in who we are and create these constraints as to who they think we are. They choose to define our roles in the world for us.
For example - as long as I can remember - some of the people in my life have put me into many roles based on how they view my choices and who I am. I'm a failure because I move jobs a lot. I'm angry because I'm outspoken. I'm a bimbo because I'm so bubbly. I've been labeled about 1,000 things for as long as I can remember - and when that comes from those closest to you, it can affect you for a really long time. It can create a pain that's hard to get rid of.
The good news? You can get rid of it. Bust out of those boxes and define your own damn life.
It took me a lot longer than I'd like to admit to stand up to the people who have ignorantly chosen to put me in certain boxes. And I have often been made to be someone I'm not when I do stand up and say - that's on you, that's not who I am.
BUT - the more I do say that's your circus, that's how you choose to see me - and then wash my hands of that label - the more power I feel. The more confidence I feel in who I actually am.
I'm not a failure - I'm successful, I am brave, and I am far more career savvy than many give me credit for. I am not an angry human - I am happy, passionate, and I am inherently kind. Being positive, upbeat, and a damn sparkler - that doesn't make me a bimbo, it makes me a shining light!
People who put you in boxes that define who you are in their mind are insecure. They are ignorant to your truth. They're wrapped up in who you are, when they should be wrapped up in their own lives. You cannot control them. You can't change their opinions. But you can continue to define your own life. To decide on your own who you are and then stand on your own for who that is.
People will always talk about you. They'll always pretend to know more about you than you do. And that has not one MF thing to do with you.