The Door is Open

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The Door is Open

The concept of what other people think of us either becomes our whole world or becomes something we try to resist to become our own person. My first memory was when I was three years old in the family room of my first house. It was a three bedroom house in Parkersburg, West Virginia. My mom had just left the room to finish cooking dinner for the night. I was in the room with my dad who was recording me from across the relatively empty room. For some reason the way I remember this is from the perspective of my dad on the other side of the camera. I was thinking my own thoughts, but I saw myself as if I were my dad. I held in my hands one blue, one yellow, and one green plastic key. The keys had a smooth plastic feeling that soothed me and kept me calm. I was so hungry and craved something with flavor, and I decided the keys looked appetizing so I stuck them in my mouth. After I put them in my mouth I heard my dad start to chuckle. At first I laughed along with him, but then I felt like he was laughing at me rather than with me. I smelled the spices and heard the sizzle of my mom’s cooking from the other room so I left the flavorful keys in my mouth and started to cry. I question my dad to this day why he didn’t make me take them out and can still only illicit the response “I don’t know. I don’t even remember that”. As a three year old other people’s opinion of me did not really mean anything yet. At this point I decided that what the world (specifically my dad in this case) had a different perspective that I should also pay attention to. This led me to consider other’s opinions in my future endeavors.

My sister and I are both picky eaters which is probably the biggest pet peeve of both of my parents. One night ...

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...ht process from that memory when I was three evolved further on in my life. At the dinner with my family, and my dad’s colleagues I decided that other people had valuable opinions. I decided to listen to their opinions and found that my hypothesis was validated. I fell in love with the dish and realized that other people that I trust made recommendations for my own good. I integrated this new thought process along with my family when we go out to dinner. We all comment on what is going on in other people’s advice. Problems that have been stumping people get solved through advice of others in the family. The discourse and openness makes things easier for all of us. Being open had lead to drastic positive changes in my life. I am able to see myself through a different lens. This perspective lets me decide what kind of person I am and what kind of person I want to be.

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