I Like Me Better

There are people in our lives that we want to get to know more. They are interesting or funny or kind. We are attracted to their energy. Something much more rare and special, though, are those people who shine that energy back at us. Instead of just wanting to get to know them, we want them to get to know us. We open ourselves up without feeling uncomfortable or self-conscious. As the song goes, "I like me better when I'm with you." As Ross says in the episode of Friends that is coincidently on in front of me right now, "I love the person I am when I'm with you." We all deserve people like that; that not only make us feel important and beautiful and interesting, but whose presence actually pushes us to be better people. 

Finding these people is hard. I make it even more difficult for myself. I fall into category #1. I love lots of people. I want to get to know lots of people. I want to help people and do things with these people. But I always assume they wouldn't want to know me. I assume they are annoyed or irritated by my presence. To be fair, many, many people have been annoyed by me in my life. I can be overbearing and very loud. However, the sigh my sister responded with might have nothing to do with me, but with her stressful day. The lack of communication with a good friend may have more to do with her busy schedule than her feelings about me. 

This is starting to sound like a blog where I tell you I should be more positive and presume good intentions and open myself up, huh? That would follow the typical pattern of my posts. Here's the truth, though. I can't do that. I can try. I could tell myself to not take things to heart and be confident in myself. I could tell myself that every hour of every day. I still wouldn't. I would still feel like I was falling short. Here's the good news. I'm lucky enough to be a teacher of middle school students. And even though that is a dreaded age group for most, with those kids, I never have to guess feelings. 😂They will tell me when they hate me and tell me when they love me. They'll tell me when I'm being "lame" and when my dress looks pretty. And, when I'm teaching, I feel in my element. It is when I'm the most confident and least worried. In fact...I like me better when I'm with them.

6 more days until the first day of school!