"What Do You Like About Yourself?" or "What Do You Hate About Yourself?"

[Seil]

So I've got this imagined scenario where there's this lady who's upset about her appearance and mentions so during a party, and I pull her to a mirror and ask her what she dislikes about herself. After she answers, I ask her what she likes about herself. I tell her that whenever she thinks of X, she should remind herself of Y. It's a scenario where I'm totally sweet and get major brownie points with said lady. It's an idea for a scene in something I'll write. (Eventually.) I get weird ideas and end up placing them with other story ideas.

Anyway, it prompted an idea for a thread. So sit while I spin you a yarn. I bet you're waiting on pins and needles. Be patient - a stitch in time saves thine.

The idea is that you have to say one thing you dislike about yourself. Not that you're gonna make any effort in changing it, not that it has to be anything overly personal, but something you dislike about yourself. Be it that you hate your weight/hair/procrastination or whatever. Then, then you halfta tell us something you like. Something that doesn't halfta be personal, again, but just something you feel happy or smug or pleased with. The idea is that you can live with the bad because of the good... or something. I don't know.

But for me, the answer to both is some variation of my alcohol consumption.

[Krylo]

I hate that I'm in this thread.

Does that count?

[Doc ock rokc]

i like:
that when ever i read a book i can picture the entire scean as a bit of a cartoon

I hate:
that i can't draw these wonderful images

[Bobbey]

I hate my lack of courage when it comes to confronting people about a serious issue that I want to talk about with them, since I'm very poor at arguing. I can bring an argument to a conversation, but then someone arguments against me, and I cannot find a way to defend myself, and basically I shut myself up. It's only hours or days later that I realise I could've said ''this or that'' that could've changed the situation I was in.

What I like about myself is that even when times are a bit glum, I always take the positive way out, or I say to myself ''Well, at least we have _____, so that's still great :)'' and also, my ability to be completely random at times, making other people laugh.

[A Zarkin' Frood]

So I've got this imagined scenario where there's this lady who's upset about her appearance and mentions so during a party, and I pull her to a mirror and ask her what she dislikes about herself. After she answers, I ask her what she likes about herself. I tell her that whenever she thinks of X, she should remind herself of Y. It's a scenario where I'm totally sweet and get major brownie points with said lady. It's an idea for a scene in something I'll write. (Eventually.) I get weird ideas and end up placing them with other story ideas.

Hey, Seil! I actually did that. Only it wasn't during a party!

I demand you credit me! If you don't I'm gonna sue your art for imitating my reality!!!!!

Anyway, what I hate and love about myself is that I am myself.

[Ecks]

I like the fact that I'm good at video games and being an awesome guy. I hate the fact that I am also at the same time horrible at life and kind of a dumbass.

[Revising Ocelot]

I like:
Er...



I hate:

My dysfunctional social skills when I have to speak to people my age face-to-face, my cowardice of such situations, and the fact those above two factors means I've lost contact with all my friends who went to university while I couldn't afford it. In fact, since I haven't been in contact with -any- of them for the past 3 years, I don't think they were really my friends to begin with. Just people who tolerated me. Really lonely as a result.


I could go into a long, long list of what I hate about myself, but I'll stick to the rules.

[EVILNess]

I hate:

My inherent laziness. The hardest part of doing anything for me is getting the energy to get started, but when I do I usually have fun, or it makes me feel better, or I find that it wasn't so bad after all. I seriously have had to force myself to get out of bed to take a shit. I am that lazy.

On the flipside, I love being able to naturally have lucid dreams. I can also go to sleep in any position. Standing, sitting, Head up, head down, or anything in between. Hell, I used to regularly fall asleep while doing exercises in school, and kept on exercising.

My inability to say no to a sincere request for help. This has led me to feeling very put upon and under-appreciated as of late. I had a guy on the side of the road ask me for money for food. I told him one second I would buy him some, and went and pulled through Mcdonalds. He threw it away as I was driving off. I also recently had some friends and their 2 year old daughter move into my house (I love their little girl, so much. She calls me "My Nick.") when they suffered being laid off and couldn't make rent. They were supposed to be there for 6 weeks, maybe 2 months. They were here for over 6 months. Rent free. Bill free. I never got a thank you the entire time. All I got was complaints about the living situation, and when they left they left behind a gigantic mess. Argh!!! Sad part is... I would let them move back in tomorrow if they needed a place to stay.

On the flipside, I love the fact that I never stop to think "What's in it for me?" or to complain about how far I have to go to help. I always just show up, no questions asked. Because that's what a friend does, and that is what I would expect them to do for me.

My fear about my own inadequacies.My brain knows that I am a pretty good guy and I am very proud of who I am, but for some reason I still worry constantly about what other people think. I think this is a pretty common thing though so I kinda try to not let it bother me so much, and it's getting better.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

What I like: My face, my hair, and my athleticism.

What I don't like: My teeth, my writing, my lack of confidence, and my sarcasm.

[Bard The 5th LW]

What I like: Ability to learn things quickly. Ability to remember small unimportant things. My hair (its fabulous). My personality.

What I dislike: Lack of natural ambition. Lack of bravery.

[mauve]

What I hate: Having no social skills. Stupid hair and my own ineptitude at making it less stupid. Genetic disorder causes every little wound or breakout I have to scar permanently, and not on the "woah, what a badass-looking scar!" kind of way. Fear of doing things wrong, which leads me to never try to do anything important, which degerates into perma-laziness.I'm afraid of offending people, so I don't talk much, which leads to me not knowing how to make small talk, which further fuels aforementioned dislike of having no social skills.

What I like: I have cool-looking hands. I can make up cool stories about things I see, just to amuse myself. I can be a decent writer and can sometimes come up with cool characters. I know how to ride a horse, shoot a bow, knit a scarf, disarm a gunman, break an opponent's hand, bake cookies, read a dead language, drive a horse-cart, run almost every peice of equipment in a television studio, play TF2 when I have ping over 300, get into the most popular rides at Disneyland without having to wait in line (go during the evening light show!), tell the difference between a reptile skull and a mammal skull based on the differentiation of the teeth and the presence of post-orbital openings, use a laserdisk player, recite Prospero's ending sililoquoy from The Tempest, and ride my bike with no handlebars. No handlebars. No handlebars.

[Solid Snake]

What I Like:
(Theater classes in high school taught me to always start with the compliments first.)
I am open-minded enough to change my opinions on subjects and will (eventually) concede that I am wrong when I am wrong. My political and religious views have shifted several times because I am inquisitorial and refuse to simply accept what I was taught when I was raised. I value being 'objectively right' enough to take difficult stands.
I do not back away from intellectual, academic and vocational challenges. I have goals in my life that are real and attainable, and I aim for them.
My social skills, though imperfect, have improved drastically from what they were. My closest friends are genuinely good people; I believe I am solid in discerning another's character. I have proven more than willing to assist close friends when they are in need.
I can write and elucidate well-reasoned, cohesive and thorough arguments.
I am a 'pessimistic idealist,' which I interpret as a positive worldview. I simultaneously hold dearly to visions of a better future, while remaining cynical enough to doubt and distrust. I am realistic in my appraisals but still have lingering thoughts of a faraway utopia.
I do not smoke or do drugs, and I am not an alcoholic.
I am not afraid to admit that I love ponies. Pinkie Pie is my favorite.

What I Dislike:
I have a desperate and inconsolable need to be liked. The ramifications of this desire are particularly evident on the internet; though the problem surfaces everywhere, in the 'real world' people are generally courteous enough to at least pretend to get along with you, which prevents the issue from being as prevalent. I am not kidding when I say that about 90% of the impassioned arguments I've gotten into on NPF have stemmed from a deep-seated desire to be liked by the person I'm arguing against a deep-seated disappointment at perceiving that friendship to not be reciprocated.
Whenever people express anything I can interpret as a personal criticism, I immediately assume the worst. Subsequently, I am over-defensive to criticism, as I assume every attack arises from a personal vendetta. A low degree of self-confidence only further complicates this issue, as I am often desperate to protect what I perceive to be last shreds of respect or self-dignity.
Past memories and present experiences collectively contribute to a certain degree of paranoia. It's 'Snake against the world,' only the twist is that I actually want to impress and be accepted and be cared for by those who I tend to assume despise and mock and jeer at me.

My introspective and logical style to conversing really helps in intellectual debates, where I am easily taken seriously. It hurts in everyday socializing, where I am easily taken too seriously. I often face difficulties when attempting to shed my serious persona and try my hand at jokes. The same lewd jokes from me tend to lead to condemnation, whereas another more spontaneous or 'less serious' friend could get away with pulling the exact same lines. Part of this is a failure on my part to understand and appreciate subtle nuances; I've often been told that my non-verbal gestures or mannerisms don't quite match what I'm saying, which leads to easy misinterpretations. Part of this is also that my dry humor can sometimes be too dry.

As undoubtedly noted several times before, I am terrible with all things women; terrible at understanding them, terrible at maintaining friendships with them, terrible at interpreting their degree of interest or disinterest in me, and terrible at even starting or maintaining conversations with them, particularly in person. I am extremely self-aware regarding past failures with women, to the point where my failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have become too jaded and bitter to accept such cliched truisms as "you just haven't found 'the one' yet," but part of me misses earlier times, when I was more overtly idealistic and romantic, with a rose-tinted fairy tale approach to love.

I am a night-owl, and recent attempts to force myself to be less nocturnal have all turned out horribly. I do my best work between roughly 11pm and 3am, so I typically am awake during those hours. Attempts to pull all-nighters to force myself on a more appropriate schedule have never worked. It's like my body is hardwired for nocturnal functioning. I've subsequently actually taken jobs, classes and internships that enable me to maintain a fairly nocturnal lifestyle. Unfortunately, this means I often find myself missing the sun.

I am a perfectionist. In regards to my work, I refuse to accept anything less than perfection and often stress myself out nitpicking small grammatical errors while refusing to address 'big picture' problems with my papers. I work too hard and too long on some assignments. Even in videogames, this problem regularly materializes. I've often forced myself to undergo grueling and frankly boring sidequests in order to say I've 100% completed a game. Trophies have exaggerated this problem, as I find myself enduring hell just to say I've gotten a Platinum. I'll force myself to Platinum mediocre games while great games I'm desperate to play sit on the sidelines.
(Most recently I refused to play DA2 until I completely Platinum'd DA:O. Since I've never finished DA:O's DLC I simply...have not played DA2 yet, despite owning DA2 since the week of its release. This is simply how I do this. I hate this tendency but cannot correct it.)

I have a sweet tooth and I am addicted to candy.
I am also addicted to coffee, to such an extent that I noticeably less likable, less agreeable, more hostile and less functional on days when I have not taken my dose.

Last and not least, I tend to write giant walls of text that no one reads when given an excuse to do so.

[Overcast]

What I hate:
I have a low speaking voice. Unless I routinely check to make sure I set my decibel level to conversation I tend to not have the proper volume to talk to people properly. I hear that once I do I am a wonderful conversation, but since most people don't get past that I am occasionally fucked. I also am crap at smalltalk, I like subjects particularly ones I actually know something about and when encountered with smalltalk ice breakers I am usually unreasonably laconic and unimpressive. I have a paradoxical wish for company, where I may NEED someone one day and another want absolutely no one at all. As such I have a bad habit of blowing off the ones I love so I can have a few moments to myself. I am shallow and picky in relationships and have dumped more than one person simply because I've lost interest in them, and will do it immediately after it becomes apparent with absolute bluntness. I am apathetic and don't believe that I can do anything for the world at large, and as such big problems or problems too far away from me I typically ignore as something for someone who can help. I have difficulty articulating my arguments sometimes, and sometimes I try to explain my bad word choice and it only digs me in deeper to the point that not even I have any idea where to start anymore and I just give up and leave. I don't take personal insults well, and they tend to affect me to the degree that I spend weeks trying to repair what someone said about me. I care too much about my reputation anywhere. I don't spend a lot of time on things preferring to just speed through it with confidence. I feel like I need to be the best at what I do, and if I'm not I will often just give it up. I am of the delusion that I will live forever because if I didn't my life would fall apart at the seams. I am not funny ever on purpose.

What I like:
I am confident. I don't care if people can't hear me speak I will speak when I feel like it. I'll say what I want, to who I want, when I want to. I am not a pushover and nobody is going to step on me like they used to. I am incapable of feeling romantic jealousy and I don't miss any of my exes. I am smart with a rapid mind, and the reason I rush through things is because I am not often wrong and will do it right the first time. I work hard when I do have to work and will not finish until the job is done right. I am a kindhearted person to people who are close to me and I am fond of solving problems that bother them just because they are there. I keep my promises if you ask me to and will only ever break my word to myself, because honestly fuck that guy. I can take any other insult other than personal ones, because my sense of humor is broad as all hell. I am introspective to see my faults and understand why they happen and how they relate to my good traits and wouldn't want to change for the world.

[POS Industries]

What I like: Bein' awesome.

What I hate: Feelin' bad that everyone can't be as awesome as me.

[RickZarber]

It's 3:25am, so rather than expend the mental energy to answer this properly (right now; I'll come back to it tomorrow), I'm gonna pull a Seil Classic move.

http://comics.lucyknisley.com/comics/2011-01-24-Weakness-Fair.jpg (http://comics.lucyknisley.com/2011/01/weakness-fair/)

[Si Civa]

As undoubtedly noted several times before, I am terrible with all things women

Aren't you that guy who actually has asked girls out? Like I mean, while you haven't found anybody (yet anyway) I really think you overreact about your 'lack of social skills' some times.

But then again I like really don't know you that well, but but butt but yeah.

extremely self-aware regarding past failures with women, to the point where my failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That sounds like me. You don't want to be like me. So stop doing that!

~

I, however, hate many things about myself to that degree that I can convience myself that other people's lives would be better if I hadn't born at all. And that, my dears, is pretty fucked up. Not going to tell you suckers what are the reasons for that though because I like to keep my privacy*.

And stupid lack of social skills is stupid lack of social skills. And fucking self pity parties, like what the fuck man, are you dense or something, you should know better than that. I'm fucking idiot, I tell ya.


But I kinda dig that peer pressure doesn't work with me too well. However, for certain gals' goal to give me make up I might very well give in. It might be funny for all I know.

And I've quite good memory for certain things. And I guess it's good that I can have my own wrong opinions. It's the best.

*Telling that you are fucked up isn't that private, is it?

[Hatake Kakashi]

Let's see, what I like and what I don't like...well, I don't feel like telling you that. My hopes and my dreams...well, I never really thought about it. As for hobbies, I've got lots of hobbies....

Now for the real post.

What I dislike:
My weight - I've always been a bit heavy. When I was in high school, I was able to keep it under control because I had to constantly train for playing football. When I didn't get a scholarship to a college (didn't help that I never spent more than a year in one place as a kid), I figured I didn't need to keep training for it. Boy, was that a stupid move! I've dropped 42 pounds over the winter, but I still have quite a bit to go.

My receding hair line - Fucking genetics!

My uncorrected smile - More fucking genetics! And lack of a dental plan to cover orthodontics.

My lack of faith in others - I've become substantially more bitter and emotionally reserved after the loss of my father to cancer, the loss of my mentor to suicide, and the loss of yet another close friend to cancer. I've watched a lifelong friend pull stupid shit that caused the end of our friendship about a year ago. But overall, I find it more and more difficult to connect with others, to let them past everything that I put up. Sometimes, I feel rather lonely as a result.

It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.
Try it.

What I like:
My intellect - Despite what a few of you whom I've debated with might think, I consider myself to be a rather intelligent individual, with no small measure of sophistication.

My poise in front of others - Despite the multitude of physical flaws I possess, I am regularly able to sway others in ways that I want them to go through my speech. I know how to work a crowd.

My determination - Once I set my mind to something, come hell or high water, it gets done.

My skills - I like knowing how to do a little bit of a lot of things. While I don't do some of them very well, there are others I've proven to be particularly adept at. I'm able to compound medications to order accurately, I consider myself to be reasonably competent in the kung-fu that I practice, and I'm getting pretty good with my guitar. While it doesn't translate well into harmonica playing, I'm still fairly talented, musically. I am a skilled writer when I decide something is worth writing about, and I can dance. Soon I will be learning to speak, read, and write Japanese as I enter a two-year crash course in the language before CWU sends me to Kyoto for my study abroad portion of coursework in earning a Bachelor's degree in Japanese. I'm a fairly decent gamer, and I can run a thief-type like no other. And I can cook, or so my family and friends regularly attest.

My outlook on the opposite sex - Ordinarily, I wouldn't bring it up, but it amazes me how often I see incidents of domestic violence, as well as spiritual, mental, and emotional abuse in couples, even within my own family. I cannot understand for the life of me how or why such things happen, and frankly, I hope in some ways that I will never learn. I was raised, not with old-fashioned, but with honest, common sense ideals that regardless of what some might say, I know within my heart to be true. I know that I have never, and will never, raise my voice in anger against a woman. I will never raise my hand in anger against a woman. I believe that disagreement and debate are sometimes healthy for a relationship, but violence, unattended feelings, and ignoring each other are not. I know that sometimes it is simply best to swallow my pride and admit that I am wrong, even if I feel that I am not, to sacrifice the self for the sake of the happiness of someone I truly love. I am faithful. I have never, and will never cheat on someone, even when things are going badly. I am forgiving, and have forgiven others for cheating on me. Eventually, those relationships ended, but it was not through a lack of effort on my part.

I try to see the best in people - Not everyone is going to be like I am. There are many who are better people than I, and many who are worse. Regardless, when I make an acquaintance or a friend, I try to overlook anything that others would see as a flaw. I have one friend who isn't particularly bright, however, he is incredibly loyal, and I know I could trust him with my life. It takes quite a bit to dissuade me from maintaining a friendship once I've decided it's worth maintaining. I've only broken one friendship in my lifetime, and it took several major breaches of my trust in order for me to finally call it quits.