Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a nice extended weekend. In job interviews, which I have been to a lot of, when the interviewer asks me what is my number one strength, my answer is always the same, my ability to not back down for what I believe in. When asked to explain I have no problem what so ever.
I'm a typically shy and reserved person. I'd rather be alone in my office or sitting in the living room watching tv with my wife than be social or the center of attention but when I truly believe in something I am not afraid to voice my opinion and be very stubborn about it. I never intentionally provoke people and I always give people the benefit of the doubt, after all everyone is allowed an opinion but if someone or something is being put in danger or as is the case most of the time the fate of the world is at risk than yes, I do come out with guns blazing. I find that ignorance and fear account for 99% of the morons in the world and it is those people that tend to drive me nuts. When science clearly shows that both evolution and global warming exist yet almost 60% of the nation believes the exact opposite it tends to make me a little opinionated and go on the attack and although 99% of the time I'd be better off just slamming my head into a brick wall over and over at the end of the day I do feel a tad bit of pride for actually expressing my feelings. When you bottle everything up for so long it feels good to vent in a positive way. I don't necessarily want people to believe what I do but I do want them to give me a fair chance to prove my point or at least argue it. The sad reality is most people feel threatened when you try to disclaim everything they've been taught (brainwashed) for their entire life and they do not respond very kindly. It is perfectly okay to believe a supreme being created everything or that pollution and other human factors are destroying our climate and our world it is not okay to force these ideas down people's throats through education(?), religion and especially politics. Our government is run by money for money, at least that is my opinion and I believe I have enough credible evidence to support my way of thinking and that is why I have no problem in actually engaging in debates about it. I don't just argue to argue or say things to be mean, I respond with critical thinking and I never go into any battle without pre-planning, planning and pre-planning again. I don't dive into something I can't handle or have no knowledge of and as I stated earlier at the end of the day I do get a little satisfaction out of being able to say I stood up for what I believe in without worrying about the consequences and that brings me to my next point.
In the follow up to that question the interviewer always asks, "What is your biggest weakness?"
The answer for that comes out just as fluidly because it is the same very similar, it is my INABILTIY to back down from what I truly believe in. It is a real double edged sword, every positive has to have a negative. When I absolutely know I am right about something or have the factual evidence to back up one of my beliefs I do not back down, to anyone. I have lost three or four jobs because of my stubbornness. It is a very traumatic thing to lose your job especially in this day and age, top off the fact I have no real world skills and it makes it even that much more harder, believe me there have been more times than I can count where I should have just kept my usually quite mouth shut yet my desire to be right reacts instead. It truly is a curse but after 40 years I am beginning to pick and choose my battles more carefully but this weakness and strength has defined who I am and made me the person I am today. Sure I have lost a lot of friends and family over my beliefs and sometimes it hurts but at the end of the day I realize where I am and who I am and I can live with this curse and sometimes even use it to my advantage to enlighten a few more people............................PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!