It doesn’t matter what “it” is. If it can be done, someone will judge it.
On that note, welcome to Wellness Wednesday. Every Wednesday, I post something related to personal wellness.
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Austin, Texas
Photo credit: RJS Photography
I recently read an article about a woman who likes to read books. She talked about being new to reading romance books, and gave some of her recommendations for books along with stating that despite the bad reputation romance books get, some of them are more well-written than others.
Then the post got weird.
She then wrote about not being afraid to tell others that you read romance novels, that some people will judge you for it, but that talking about romance novels is the only way to find other people who read them and get recommendations.
Say what? People will judge you for reading a book?!?
Yes, dear reader. People will judge you for what books you read. It doesn’t matter that they haven’t read anything other than a cereal box in 10 years; others will judge what you read. People judge Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray without having read them. I’m not saying they’re literature; I’m just calling shenanigans on judging them based on an article someone else wrote about them.
Look, I’m a fan of doing what makes you happy. Those people who are judging you? They aren’t going to be around in 10 years, 10 days, and sometimes not even in 10 minutes. They don’t pay your bills. They haven’t lived your life.
Not caring what people think is an art form that few master, but when I see someone who obviously doesn’t care what others think, I want to applaud. The happiest people know that flying under the radar is overrated. I say that as long as what you do doesn’t actively harm anyone, do what you want to do.
Some people will say that you “harm” them when they really mean “offend.” I’ve heard people say that being gay, having tattoos, wearing things with swear words, having a certain hair color is “harmful” to morality or some nonsense.
I call shenanigans.
Harm is what you do to someone else, not what you do to yourself. If you hit on someone who isn’t interested (after they’ve told you), that’s harm. If you hold someone at gunpoint and force them to get tattoos, that’s harm. If you swear in someone’s face, that’s harm. If you throw hair dye on someone else, that’s harm.
Being you… not harmful.
So today, remember that all the things you like and dislike make you uniquely you. They make you cool and interesting. If someone else doesn’t like those things, then that’s cool. It means that they’re different from you. Maybe you can even learn things from one another.
Go forth and be uniquely you today, no matter what that means. And don’t judge others for being who they are. Embrace it. Enjoy it.
Live it.
Doree Weller 