Who am I? And what do I do when I’m labeled?

• Posted on 20th March 2011
• in Actor's Life, Broadway Usher's Life, Inspirational, Screenwriter's Life
• by jeffgoldstein

I’ve been following  the blog of a very interesting guy, Colin Wright at  exilelifestyle.com He’s been called the exile cowboy and shares his minimalist lifestyle on his site which deserves a visit. One of his posts speaks about titles, how people react to us differently because of who we are, and I’m not speaking of Mr. Mrs, or Ms.

Make a list of all FACTS about yourself, not feelings, interpretations, or judgments, but hard cold facts… for example I am a blog writer who is also a Virgo. Got it? So I’ll do that for myself, but follow me and get a piece of paper and write it down for yourself.

I, Jeff Goldstein am: right-handed, have balding brown curly hair, brown eyes, am a male, I’m packing some extra weight, I have a degree in Accounting, I’ve been onstage with Candice Bergen, I worked as a Timekeeper for Macy’s, I have a blood type O positive, I am a human, I spend hours in front of my computer, I am a caregiver and teacher, I am a rebel as well as a professional, a Caucasian, I was born Jewish, I played Saint Francis of Assisi in an elementary school play, I had a conversation with Kurt Russell, I’m currently a 50 something, I am an artist, a member of 4 unions, I was in the United States Air Force, I’ve been directed by Woody Allen and Denis Leary, I share with people, etc, etc, etc.

Now what I’m getting at here is once you’ve compiled a paragraph of “titles” you can begin to see who you actually are, and because of that, how others perceive and judge you. Granted I don’t necessarily want to be know as a person who has blood type O positive, but what I’m getting at is… this is who you are. You should smile when you read your paragraph, I’ve printed mine and taped it to the wall by my computer. It makes me smile (read last post “If smiling makes me feel good, why don’t I smile more”).

People judge us by our looks, what we talk about and how we say it, the sound of our voice, WHO WE ARE, … And once we are judged, we are categorized or labeled by others. “He’s the guy who is a member of 4 unions”, he’s 54, he’s balding, he’s overweight, he spends a lot of time in front of the computer… what I’m getting at is that they can go ahead and label me, I already know it… I have it taped up on my wall. It’s nothing new to me and I smile about it!

And going further people love me because of who I am… and people love you because of who you are.  It’s funny I’ve said in the past “I would not be the person I am today if every single thing and moment in my life did not happen.” More and more I believe that to be the truth, and with that I become able to accept a lot of my life.

Take a deep breathe, don’t want to get too heavy here… but learn to love who you are, It’s a process, it takes time, but you have to start somewhere. Start with a list… and don’t forget to smile when you do it! I so love my life…

Warm hugs

-Jeff

Tags: Accounting, blood type, Candice Bergen, Colin Wright, degree, Denis Leary, Francis of Assisi, Jewish, Kurt Russell, Macy's, professional, rebel, union, Virgo, Woody Allen

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