The Other Side Of The Coin

Yesterday we talked about low-self esteem. Let's now examine the other side of the coin: extreme self-confidence, that often plunges into absurdity. Look around you. While you see some women, and men too, who present themselves to the world in a sloppy careless way because they believe that no one is interested in them, that no one will like them, you  also see people who seem to own the world. They constantly want others' attention and seek it in all possible ways, even the most absurd. Sometime they even pretend (but  they don't realize they are pretending) to choose to distantiate themselves from the rest of the world because they (think) they are special. It's all an act, an "unconscious" act. As a typical, visible example, let's see what's going on in the "clothing" department. Some individuals dress in unsuitable (to common sense) ways: women with extremely revealing or old-fashioned, weird outfits just to show that, because they are different, they deserve attention and, possibly, admiration. Some men, and women too, wear supposedly "tough" outfits, leather, bandanas, torn jeans, dreadful T-shirts with outrageous captions printed on them, loud colors, unbelievable patterns, stuff that is too long or too short, too tight or too loose to be tasteful. I am NOT talking about "high fashion", here. I am just referring to simple good taste. I've seen a woman wearing a top with the printing "Wonderfully tacky"!!! As tacky means showing poor taste, she certainly did but, lo and behold, she thought it was wonderful. Spotting a young man wearing  a T-shirt proclaiming "I can't stand idiots", instead of smiling, I should have asked him, "Are you sure you aren't one of them?" These people believe that they are challenging the world, that they are showing self-assurance, for which they expect admiration and recognition, while they are only showing their lack of self-respect.