Your Relation to Other People: Even though you might be someone's mom or dad or husband or wife, I think of you as you, not of who you are in relation to someone else. Because no matter what you are to someone else, you are someone in your own right. Being plus or minus a partner or a child doesn't increase or decrease your value to me or to the world.
Your Religion: I don't ask people if they believe in God or Jesus or Buddha or Allah or the Smoke Monster or nothing. Whether you do or don't practice religion is not my business and unless you are a crazy extremist it doesn't color my perception of you in a good or a bad way.
Your Appearance: I often compliment things I like and turn a blind eye when I see you out at Target looking like last week's news because I am always seeing people I know when I look terrible in public. Appearances are deceiving. I could honestly give two shits if people traveled the world over in flannel pajamas. I'm more interested in what color your soul is. You can put a classy and expensive outfit on a black souled asshole and they will always look worse than someone with a good soul wearing pajamas and a fresh face.
Your Bank Account: It fluctuates. I've been in good and bad places financially, haven't most of us? Our value is not in dollars and what other people do with their money is not my business unless they are asking me for some.
Some ways I do define people:
-if they believe equality for all of us
-how they treat themselves
-their sense of humor
-how they affect my energy
-if they're willing to stand up for what is right even if it's not popular
-by things I can't stand to be around: whiners and people who constantly seek validation and attention from others
-if they read books for pleasure or not
-by measuring if their actions line up to their words and who they say they are
-if they're awesome and add good things to my life, like my sister-in-law who is celebrating a birthday today. Happy birthday Aub!
