I never had a doubt about this, since I've generally been a stylish person. However, last Friday, I did a little experiment. I went to the gym dressed in a pair of Kenneth Cole dress pants with leather shoes and a matching T-shirt and watch, in terms of color. It felt as if I had an invisible magnet on myself. From the moment I walked in, all of the male and female employees, the female employee at the juice bar, female gym members who suddenly were seeing me in a different light, all turned around as if unable to take their eyes of me. I don't know if it's because I generally dress very casual at the gym that perhaps some of them began to sort of perceive me as if I were a different person of some sort. Of course, the personal trainers who for some reason just love to hate on me and never give me a break at that gym-two of them in particular-were staring at me with frowns from a distance each time I walked by, instead of focusing on the members they were working with. I bet they spent quite some considerable time gossiping about me as they often do.
Last night, I watched one of Joel Osteen, the popular Reverend's sermons, on TV. The guy is great and I could very well relate to his message last night. He said that in life, we should always keep in mind that not everyone is going to like us no matter how kind, nice, friendly and agreeable we try to be. Most of the time, he continued, these people who gossip about others have serious issues with themselves on the inside. They are naturally ungrateful and envious people and constantly seek out individuals to whom they can direct those negative emotions they have inside of them. People will criticize you no matter what you do or don't do. Hence, trying to make everyone like you is not only a waste of time, but you will never achieve happiness in the process. In fact, he said, people who go out of their way to please others often get criticized the most and this weighs down upon them and affects their self-esteem significantly.
