Character Reference

Michael made a comment about how I live in a perfect world, and it got me thinking that a lot of people comment that I'm "too happy", but not just that, they often add that nothing bad ever happens to me.

Firstly, I'd like to say that it's untrue, I mean, even though it's not that bad on the grand scale of things, having someone follow me to a car park wasn't the greatest experience ever, and is the the reason why I insist on only buying clothes and shoes that I can run away in (with special occasions being exceptions). Overall, I will admit that I do have a pretty lucky life though.

Anyway, it first made me wonder if maybe I'm too naïve. I have thought this before, but recent discussions on lying have brought it up again. Since I prefer to tell the truth, and believe in someone being innocent before guilty, I'm usually told that it's a naïve way to live. I think it has kinda worked for me so far.

However, at dinner last night, both Pharmacist and MrFodder said that I am a bad judge of character. I disagree, but it's one of those things is hard to see from your own perspective. I also asked darkpast, but he said he tends to be oblivious to most things, so he couldn't really say.

I wouldn't mind being called a bad judge of character on its own, but in combination with being naïve, it's not a very good trait to have.

Pharmacist said he thinks that because I have some questionable friends, but I like to have friends who think differently to me to get a different perspective on life, so I'm not too fussed about that. MrFodder says that he thinks some people take advantage of me, but I don't think I've felt taken advantage of.

I know some people think I am, because I like to do things to cheer people up. That started from my retail days, when someone said he thought I was funny. It took him about a second to say that, and it cheered me up for the rest of my shift. Ever since then, I've always tried to do things for other people if I believe that the happiness they will gain outweighs the effort it takes me. So giving someone a compliment is easy, takes a few seconds, and usually cheers them up for a few minutes at least, which is a net gain of happiness. So for the most part, I don't feel like I've been taken advantage of.

But maybe there are people out there who know this about me, and try to exploit it. And I really hate the feeling of being used.

I'm still thinking a bit more about it, but I'm not sure what I can do about it. I don't want to live my life being suspicious of everyone around me, that just sounds like a recipe for misery.

(I thought today would be an appropriate day to post this given the overall theme of trickery.)