What makes you you?

Why are you the way you are?

If your friends had to pick 5 adjectives to describe you (single words that would encompass who you are or a single aspect of who you are), where would those adjectives have originated? Who came up with them? Did you decide that’s who you are or did your friends use that word to describe you often and it just stuck with you?

I ask because of this:

Once upon a time, in the land of my dining room, my roommate was talking to a friend of ours. She was saying that the friend said I was “anal” and “scary”. Two awesome adjectives you always want to hear from other people when they are describing you… then again I can think of a few others I would rather hear…

Anyway, she denied saying that I was “scary” but admitted to saying I was “anal.” I love my friends.

Not only is this inappropriate conversation, especially when the person you are talking about is right there in the room, but it’s just rude, and mean, and they are stupid poopy pants.

I was thinking, though… when I was in grade school many kids noted that I was a perfectionist. Particularly when it came to arts and crafts. To this day I will do things in a specific way and insist on dealing with every last detail. Is this a natural part of me? Or did the positive feedback I was getting in grade school (when I would act such a way) cause me to continue to act that way, and about more than just arts and crafts?

Let’s say that the kids in my class made fun of me for being a perfectionist. Is it possible that I would have came to loath such a quality? If this is the case, I would have began to brush things off, do things half-assed, and probably would have become a laid back person. I would do things to get it done, instead of doing it to do it correctly. Or at the least, I wouldn’t have put more effort than was needed to get it done well. I would have turned out the exact opposite of who I am now. Or would I?

Do you think I would have became a different person? Perhaps I would have tried my hardest to be laid back but it might not work. If my “perfectionism” or “attention to detail” is a natural quality of mine, then there is nothing I can do to rid myself of it. Sure, I could suppress it, but it would still be there, slowly sneaking out until I eventually give in and let it become part of me again.

So my big question today is: Who decided who you are? I’m not talking about the whole career thing, where your parents decided you are going to be a doctor. I’m talking about the real you; the inner you; the you inside you. I’m talking about your personality. Who decided you are a perfectionist; soft spoken; shy; outlandish; fun loving; a thrill seeker; an outcast; a biker kid; a slacker?

Who made you you?

-Diggs out

P.S. – this is an article I wrote years ago on another platform. When I moved to WordPress I imported them all over. Now, I’ve decided to repost the ones I like, and believe to still be relevant. Enjoy.