What is your definition?!

In recent weeks, I saw a YouTube clip about Lizzie Velasquez. She is a lady, who is blind in her right eye and who has a very rare medical condition. Every not-skinny female will have at least one time in their life when they’d wish they could eat anything they want without gaining any weight.

Lizzie is a reason for the saying ‘be careful what you wish for’. She literally does not gain any weight no matter how many fatty, calorie bombs she devours. In her case, she never wished for this. It is a rare disorder she got from birth. The reason I write about her has nothing to do with her condition however. Why she has quite an impact on me is because of her mindset and perspectives.

How often don’t we as humans feel down, even depressed when something doesn’t go the way we want it to be. Imagine growing up with Lizzie’s condition and the history of many bullies and disgusted looks. And even then, she didn’t sulk in her sorrow, but took those negative perceptions and prejudices to her advantage and saw it as a motivation to become a more successful person. One thing that she said really made me think: “ What defines me?”

According to Cathryn Conroy, these are the 10 best qualities anyone can have:

1. Be honest

2. Be happy
3. Be respectful of others

4. Be easygoing and fun.

5. Be confident
6. Be emotionally open

7. Be disciplined
8. Take pride in yourself
9. Be compassionate
10. Have a sense of humor

 For her post, please visit http://channels.isp.netscape.com/whatsnew/package.jsp?name=fte/bestqualities/bestqualities

These 10 qualities seems so logical, so natural that these are the qualities one should go after. But how extreme should you take this to heart? And how often are these qualities preferred?

The reason I mention these questions is that for a certain extent I am an honest person. Let’s just say, I give my utmost to always tell the truth. But what I’ve noticed is that not everyone is happy with that. What people say “ True words are not always pretty and  pretty words are not always true”. 10 years ago, I would bluntly tell people in their face what I don’t like about them and why. But with age and experience, I learned that people prefer sugarcoated truths and take your good intentions for granted.

And then again, the questions remains:” What do I want that defines me?” 

Should I stay the bluntly honest b*tch or should I sugarcoat at times to prevent making new enemies?