Do people really see who we are or only what they need from us? Are friendships genuinely based on the affection of those characteristics which appeal the most or are they based on a mutual give and take of needs? These are the questions this meme prompted in me. Time to do some research!

I asked ten friends/family to describe me in ten words. Only one didn’t respond, the rest sent their thoughts to me within hours or days. Thank you for participating!

Evaluating their responses, the following interesting factoids emerged!

• There were 90 words used to describe me, plus 7 bonus words.
• 5 out of the 9 said I was passionate – the 1 word 56% agreed on and 1 word in my list of top 5 self-identified traits!
• There were 5 words I totally disagreed with, but 4 people thought it of me.
• The 1 person who I thought would ace this, didn’t say the 1 thing most people were right about nor use any of the terms which were my top 10.
• Out of the 90 words, 33% said 18 words that I would 100% agree with.
• Only 2 people identified the 2 words – meticulous & organized – that are TRULY 100% me.
• 1 person (and it wasn’t one of my children) said I was motherly.
• 1 person nailed 4 terms I list as my 10 self-identified traits.
• 1 person nailed 3       ”                               ”                            “
• 5 people nailed 2        ”                               ”                            “
• 1 person nailed 1       ”                               ”                            “

Do the questions I asked originally get answered with the data I collected? Yeah, I would say they do. When I look at each individual’s responses and our relationship, they seem to have described what they see in me, not what they take from me. None of the relationships I have feel unbalanced. They are kind and mutually beneficial but not for the gain of material things or taking one another for granted. Our relationships work for each other’s sanity and comfort.

So what does this all really mean? I honestly think the people who I’ve surrounded myself are people who genuinely think these good things about me, and for that I’m grateful. Are they 100% right? No, but for the most part, they are. What it shows me is that I have displayed these sorts of traits, and for that, I’m proud to have turned out to be someone as they have described.