Labeling Life

The topic of labels is something that I find very interesting in today’s life, and society. Last night my good friend Miss T and I were discussing how it is we all get labeled into certain categories and if we don’t fit ‘the mould’ it seems to confuse others as to whom or what we are and then get criticized because we are strong enough to make our own decisions to not want to fall into that particular label category!

I have a Spanish friend who has 2 children. Her son constantly wants Nike trainers. In the beginning she bought him Nike trainers, but they would last for about 2 weeks. Nike trainers are not cheap and she could not afford to be buying him Nike trainers every two weeks because of them falling apart and because of how quickly he, as a teenager, was growing. She started buying cheaper, label-less brands. They lasted two weeks as well. She said to me that she doesn’t care that others think of her as a bad mother, because she is doing the best she can with what the situation dictates; making sure the child has shoes even though it’s not the labeled variety that he so wants.

Do we actually label ourselves first? I think we do. I think we like to put ourselves in a category that we think fits our mould and thereby the image we want to project to the outside world. At the same time it is our life to do as we wish, so really there’s nothing wrong with that, I suppose. What becomes interesting is that others start placing you in a mould and give you a label that is sometimes so wrong and not who you really are as a person. Are these people labeling you without being aware of what your situation is for you to act in that specific way? Are they aware that the tools you have at your disposal makes you act in a certain way, even though it may not be the way you want to act? Are we not sometimes all forced into situations because of mistakes we have made, and by trying to make them right, we get a wrong label as to who we are as people? What gives another the right to criticize what you are doing in your life without knowing the whole situation and the reasons behind what you are doing?
The scary thing is that we all do it!

In life we all wear different caps. One day we have to wear the cap of the Trainer. The following day we have to wear the cap of the Manager and the next day we have to wear the cap of the Player. Sometimes, we land up wearing certain caps longer because of the situation that we find ourselves in and whether we like it or not, it’s what there is at that specific time. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, I think it’s just life showing us the many facets that we have to face to fulfill and deal with situations as they come. We do realistically have different tools that we have collected along the way to cope with these situations, but they may be different tools to the ones the next person would use, so the next person then feels they have the right to criticize you for your decision - labeling you to be so and so.

Is there ever a right or a wrong answer to your life? I think its life experience that we garner to create a more fulfilled life and NO ONE has the right to criticize what you or I do in that specific situation, regardless of how differently we deal with the same situation. I also think the labels created are the ones we put forward for ourselves. I think that perhaps we should all start looking at our own labels and leave others labels, for them to deal with. As I said earlier, it’s something we all do, but do we take the time to step out of our own comfort zone to realize why the other person is doing what he/she is doing, or is it just easier to find fault in what others do so that we don’t have to face our own labels and our own faults? Life is made up of so many bits and it’s not one specific bit that labels you, but a combination of all the bits that make the whole. Does anyone every really know the whole?

I’m in no way perfect but can only strive to do what I think is right with what I am equipped with, as each situation presents itself to me. I may get hurt in the process, or unwillingly hurt others in the process, but as its never intentional is it right to be criticized for it? Maybe we are meant to be criticized to understand the lesson? Tough question and so debatable on many levels, because we all do have opinions and we all do have ideas. The end result for me is - do what you can do, to the best of your ability and leave others to do what they can do to the best of their ability. Maybe by being more understanding to one another we may have a happier, more fulfilling life and in the process also see past the labels we put on other people to rather concentrate on ourselves!
I’m on a journey and I’m creating the label I want for myself that I can be proud of and that hopefully others can admire. It’s not easy and I do keep falling down, but the important thing is that I get up, dust myself off and start all over again!

I read an interesting quote by Denis Waitley who said – Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.

Powerful words when we all fall under the same label – that of LIFE!