two things to keep in mind

[desh]

* For every person I know or meet, someone I respect thinks or would think that that person is rather annoying, uninteresting, or just generally not worth spending too much time or energy on.

* For every person I know or meet, someone I respect thinks or would think that that person is unqualifiedly great, a worthwhile friend or otherwise just someone genuinely worth investing time or energy in.

I often find myself forgetting one or the other about any given individual. I need to remember that these things aren't absolute. There are all kinds of people, and many more kinds of relationships. No one is irretrievably annoying or bad or worth dismissing to everyone. And no one is unquestionably smarter, more attractive, wittier, and more worth emulating to everyone. It's always gray.

It probably wouldn't hurt if I also keep in mind the flip side about how people see me. No matter what I do, I can't please everyone. And no matter what I think or how I act, there are always going to be people who like that.

Comments

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

I think that's well worth keeping in mind. People have this idea that because they think some people have more or less of some attribute than others, there must be someone at the very top and someone at the very bottom. But of course that would only be true if there was a universal reference point and everyone was capable of using it.