Labeling ourselves and others

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

It’s not good to label yourself or others because we all can change.  Labeling is a product of a series of choices we make, usually the wrong choices or seeing the wrong in others and it’s not our destiny because we all can change our destiny.  When we say for example, I’m a shy person, that’s just the way I am.  Then when we want to approach a group of people whom we might find interesting to chat with, we suddenly stop midway, and say to ourselves:  wait the minute, I can’t introduce myself to them, I’m a shy person, and so you stop and go back to being alone there in a party.  The remedy is to say to yourself, I’m a shy person, we’ll that was in the past, today I will do something to overcome that shyness.

An example of labeling others would be calling someone a “toxic person” and condemn him or her as a bad person who has no hope of reforming or changing for the better.  We are all “toxic persons” in one way or another because we are all sinners.  Christ told those who are to stone the woman accused of adultery, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.” (John 8:7,9) We are like those stone throwers when we label someone a sinner, not acknowledging we are sinners ourselves.  The right attitude towards other sinners should be like that of Christ, giving others a chance to correct themselves and not seeing them as a hopeless case.  “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” (John 8:10-11)

When we label ourselves or the others, we are not giving ourselves or the others a chance to improve anymore.  The truth is we can be what we decide what we want to be.  We are not stuck with anything in terms of personality or learning.  We can learn tennis, we can learn swimming, we can improve our grades, if we just decide to and be determined to accomplish it.  There is this common notion for example that you can’t be writer at the same time a good speaker.  This two are just opposites because a writer is an introvert person and a speaker is usually an extroverted person.  You can always make a resolve and say, “We’ll I’m going to destroy that common belief, by proving it myself that both skills can be acquired.”  Or you can’t be a poet and an athlete at the same time.  That’s just another myth.  Especially labeling ourselves with nationalities saying something like I can’t help it, I’m Italian, therefore I’m hotheaded.  Or some people say to themselves, “I’m not good in music or athletics” and they stay away from those skills for the rest of their lives.  Or some would say, “He inherited that from his grandfather, that’s why he is a tightwad (does not spend much money).”  That’s just nonsense.  Especially with age.  We tend to say to ourselves when we reach 50, we’ll I’m old already and then act like one.  We then start to walk slowly, sit and slouch more often and refuse to exert energy.  We should not let that old man come into our life because our bodies will follow what we tell our minds.

Our freedom gives us the power to become who we want to be.  That’s why God gave us that freedom although we can use to it to make the wrong choices.  But those choices are on us, not on God.  But God is good because He gives us a chance to correct those wrong choices telling us that’s not who you are.  That is not what I designed and created you to be.  I created you to be like my Son, to be another Christ.  “Put on with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14)