My Friend, the Underdog.

I have a friend who is probably one of the rudest people I know. It is not a rude that is awkward or uncomfortable to be around but one that is completely open and honest with no punches pulled. What he says everyone else is thinking and knows to be true but they hold back the words because they wish not to offend anyone and risk their own likability. My friend, unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, does not care what people think or say about him so he says what he wants. What puzzles me about my friend is how people are attracted to him despite is strong flaw. His open floodgate of a mouth does not keep him from being a popular guy among any group of people. A normal person would believe that any other that has a “no punches pulled” vocabulary would be void of any friends, but not this guy.

I began to think deeper on the situation and finally came to a conclusion of why even I cannot pull myself from liking my unfiltered friend. There was a time in his young life where he was not the most popular, liked or fairly treated person. He had a difficult journey in his youth, having more than his fair share of family tragedies and unnecessary calamities. Yet somehow, some way, he survived and became a stronger person because of it. He adapted to a person who has a heart strong enough to endure the wiles of this life yet soft enough to come to the aid of people who are going through what he went through. He is a champion of sorts; one that started off as an underdog. We as people love Cinderella stories were the underdog thrives and comes to the top of the world after hard work and persistence.

My friend, the underdog, has been beat down, bruised, battered and shattered in too many ways. His trip to hell and back was not a choice of his, but simply in the cards that were dealt to him by life. Despite all the struggle, he continued pursuing his dream and finally reached the place where the grass on his side is greener. He can stand now, having been there and done that without complaining or hating what he went through, but with knowledge that he can use to be in somebody’s corner and help them where they fill like they have been abandon. No one knows more than an underdog, how hard the trials are, but no one knows victory more than the same underdog who triumphs. When I look at my friend, I don’t see the rude and sometimes abrasive nature of him, but I see a man who didn’t let himself be caught up in self-pity or his circle of failures and has grown to become a reliable, caring person; a man who has been through the ringer and won. 

Political Skills

Recently, I was writing a self-reflection paper for a class. For the paper I had to take a plethora of quizzes that would help describe me and give something to write about myself. The quiz that stuck out to me the most was one that measured my "political skill." It struck my fancy because I do not think of myself as any type of political advocate, or one who dives into the political scene, but when I took the quiz, I was given a score in the political skill. Surprised, I looked into the quiz and the "political skill" that I apparently had.

According to the quiz authors of the quiz defined political skill as “an interpersonal style construct that combines social perceptiveness or astuteness with the capacity to adjust one’s behavior to different and changing situational demands in a manner that inspires trust, confidence and genuineness and effectively influences and controls the responses of others.” Essentially, their definition of political skill is the ability to appear to others as having high integrity, authenticity and sincerity, being able to use diverse networks and to exert a powerful influence on others. Longish definitions, but I came to the conclusion that political skills was really people skills taken to a personal level. 

I honestly try my best to make an impact on people’s lives every day, to show care and interest, and to set a standard for others to follow. I do this because I believe that there are so many people who are not shown these qualities that should be second nature to we humans, and they go throughout their days with a little less sunshine because no one was there to show interest in anything that was going on in their lives. I believe showing genuine care in a person, even if it is in their everyday mundaneness of life is important because in that moment, the person who is recognized feels significant and needed in a world, and makes the unfortunate mess of a world we live in a little bit better. If this be called political skill, I feel that it is given a skewed looked because politics do not have the best known reputation; yet to me this political skill, or honest and simple generosity toward another human, is a part of me that I not only enjoy doing but strategically plan my day to spend time investing in people. I like that I have this “political skill” and will continue to use it for the benefit of those around me, and not for the upcoming election.