Mind-Manual

Being Yourself and Friendship

We all have quirks and oddities that if people found out about, they’d give us at least a weird look. Often we hold these things back from revealing themselves. However, if we don’t let these things out, then the people around us never get to know “us”. They learn about a small part of you–a persona that’s socially appropriate.

That’s not to say that there aren’t dangers with sharing your quirks or even sharing your shame. But if your friends or loved ones can’t handle it, then they’re not really “your” friends anyway, in the sense that they’re friends with YOU. If you don’t reveal your real self, then how can you say they like you? They like some sort of mask or persona, not the real you. How many real friendships do you have? Do you even have a real relationship with your siblings, your parents or your partner?

Of course, if you’re going to reveal something earth shattering, be careful and be tactful.

This post is a result of a decision I made that required courage. I decided that I will share my interest in personal development with my friends. I’ve never really hidden it, but I haven’t mentioned it much because it does get weird looks. Though, really, every one of my friends engages in personal development, almost all of them are in school to improve themselves. I also don’t promote my website among my friends for fear that they’ll think it “weird”. However, personal development is now an important part of my identity and there’s no point hiding it. We’ll see how this changes things. I may lose some friends who may consider me too weird. But that’s OK. 6.7 billion people in the world, I should be able to find a few to be my friends.

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