Rebuilding Rob

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

What’s the most difficult part about being you?

I’ve written a few times before about the quote “be strong enough to be gentle” and how that has kind of become my mantra. I’m a pretty easy-going guy. Sometimes probably too easy-going. People tend to think that I am a pushover. They think that they can take advantage of me. The problem is, like everybody, I do have my limits, and when I cross that proverbial red line, I tend to snap. And because people don’t see me get angry very often, they tend to act like I’m crazy; as if there’s something wrong with me for being upset about something.

To be honest, I kind of scare myself when I get too angry. I think we’ve all been there. We’ve all been to that point where we almost get blinded by our anger. I don’t like when that happens, but I feel like some people only respect you when you get angry, when you get loud and when you get in their face. 

It’s not easy to be me

“Superman” – Five For Fighting

I’m a good guy. People would probably call me “nice“; although I’ve really come to think of that term is almost having a negative connotation. For me, I think most of the time the hardest thing about being me is the fact that I’m perceived as being too nice.

Sometimes I think that my job would be easier if my students perceive me as being “a bad guy”. Sometimes I feel like it would be nice if they were just afraid of me. In a lot of ways, particularly with the young, people respect you more if they fear you. It is the most bass-ackwards logic I know of, but it is often true. 

Of course, if I had to choose between being too nice and being too mean, I would choose being nice. I need to have the week and twice on Sunday. I really feel like people who are mean, have a bad attitude, and just an overall general disposition lead empty lives. It’s hard to walk around with nothing but hatred and anger in your heart 24 seven. I wish I could be more mean-spirited sometimes, but that just ain’t me. 

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts

• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
• Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
• The Muscle of Empathy
• Where Do We Go From Here? Five Years Since January 6.

The article “the burden of being Rob” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.