Telling the truth about people I like.

There are times when I’m not in a good mood and I really couldn’t care less about the people around me and all I feel like doing is to shut myself away and read. Yes, that is the truth. You see, there are times that I find people exhausting and thankfully, I am currently surrounded by people that don’t tax me as much.

It really isn’t the case of me hating people. In fact, I do actually like being around some types of people (emphasis on the word ‘types’).  So here’s the truth and my list of qualities that I find in people that I like.

1) They are not try-hards.

2) They tell the truth, all the time. And they tell you the truth, even the hard stuff.

3) Closely in line with point 2, they mean what they say.

4) They pick their battles and know when to fight for something that really matters.

5) They’re stable.

6) They’ve got character and a sense of style.

7) They’re opinionated, in an intelligent sort of way.

8) They’re humble and challenge me to be more humble.

9) They’re not remotely jealous about anything. 

I am aware that having a list like this probably opens me up for a whole lot of criticism. Firstly, you could perhaps accuse me of not living up to the standards on this list. Or you could almost say that I am acting obnoxious or sounding obnoxious by having a list in the first place. After all, what gives me the right to have a checklist of qualities that I like in people? Am I that likeable anyway?

Well, if you have those thoughts or are in anyway offended (even in the slightest), you’re probably not going to get along with me or like me.  That’s ok, we can’t like everyone nor expect everyone to like us. 

I think it does pay though, to understand that whilst we can’t necessarily like everyone, or expect everyone to like us, we have a duty to look beyond our likes and dislikes and attempt to love everyone regardless of their disposition, mannerisms, values, appearance and idiosyncrasies. And to help facilitate this love, we must realise that sometimes we do have to put up with and serve the ones we dislike.

Hopefully, over time, as we exercise more of this love, we can grow to accept more types of people and look beyond our likes and dislikes. I don’t necessarily think you’d like them more but you’d accept them, be patient and understand that at the end, we’re all unlikeable in some way or another and could do with a break.

If Love were dictated solely on ‘likes’, I’d say we’d be in a whole lot of trouble right now.