Labels and Boxes

I know we all have had to deal with Labels and Boxes, and no I’m not talking about shipping, I’m talking about how we view people. I’ve been labeled, and put into boxes; and sometimes the only way that you can get out of those boxes is if the person who has put you there takes you out. Boxes in this case are how you see a person act, if you think they will act like that forever, and they can never act any way different, they are in that box, or a cookie cutter. If they don’t fit you get frustrated and try to make them fit, or you alter the box.

Putting people in boxes is one of the easiest things to do, I know I’m guilty of putting people in boxes. I’ve decided that they can’t act any other way and thus I don’t allow them to act any other way to me. I’ve labeled people, just by calling them names is a form of labeling. For me I was labeled a “cry baby”, “scaredy cat” and “loser”.

Sometimes it isn’t only the words people say but how they say them. For instance, some people  I know don’t see me as a teenager, or even a young adult; they see me as just a silly little kid. They’ve said I’m disrespectful, I don’t listen; and they act like things I want aren’t as important as what THEY want or what the “adults” want. Sometimes some things they say hurt me, instead of reacting in anger I simply walk away, most of the time literally. Then they go off on how I was being disrespectful, when I was preserving my sanity and not getting myself in trouble.

They have been known to try to focus on themselves (yes I’m guilty of that as well, I’m beginning to see that as well); I told them about a trip to a concert I went to, and how I was really close to one of the artists. “Well, blah blah blah at blah blah blah was better” was the only response I got. I know they didn’t mean to hurt my feelings, but it hurt. It hurt because it felt like they were belittling me, just because I’m a kid.

What this is all about is simply the fact that one needs to watch what they say before they say and get a filter for their words. Even when you don’t think you hurt anyone, watch their reaction, and never put any one down, no matter what it’s about.

People don’t think, and we need to think more than we do.

Signed,

Anonymous