TMI = ME Part 2

A friend recently told me about an article he read in Newsweek.  People were randomly surveyed and asked how often they went to church.  On average people answered that they went twice a month.  The problem is that according to church attendance those numbers don't add up.  They then changed the survey to ask what people did over the last month.  Without feeling the pressure of being judged about not going to church people answered honestly.  The new survey showed that their church attendance was much lower then on the survey they answered before. 

I don't know where it comes from but there is something in most of us that desires to please people. Most of the time it's not even the people we know. It's an imaginary group of people that we may never meet, but we sure do work hard to impress. It's why people feel the pressure to say they go to church more than they really do. It's why people feel the need to lie when the phone wakes them up.  You were sleeping, but for some reason when the person on the other side of the line asks if you were sleeping you lie.  It's why we try to keep up with the Jones, lie about our age, and pretend to be better then we really are.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't care about what others think about us. I'm not saying that we should be rude and say everything that's on our mind.  What I am saying is that people are going to judge you no matter what image you portray.  You might as well let people know the real you.

I'll give you an example of a potential TMI blog. This year I blogged about going to see a Christian counselor.  It wasn't easy blogging about it. My first thought was that people would judge me and think less of me. It wasn't easy, but for me it was the right thing to do. Through that blog multiple others ended up seeking help through a Christian counselor. 

I'm not perfect. I am going bald and I did go to Hair Club for Men. I am overweight. I do collect action figures and cardboard cutouts. I still like watching cartoons and playing video games. I hate jogging and I do sometimes get joggers nipples. I don't like pets. I don't know how to fix things and I hate mowing my lawn. This is who I am. Some people aren't going to like me. Some people are going to judge me, but when they do they will be judging the real me and not an image of who I want them to see. I hope that through my TMI people have been able to laugh, but more importantly I hope that people have been able to relate. Maybe just maybe through all my TMI someone might be able to become a better person.