Threats

The more I live and experience, the more I wonder why some people are easily threatened. Is it the economy today? Is it those hair and make-up commercials that make us feel less than perfect? Or the ads about wrinkles?

I personally do not feel I have (intentionally) ever done or said anything to make another person feel threatened. At all. I always have been quiet, laid back, polite to a fault, and professional. I am not a braggart. My mother taught me that modesty is the best policy. And yet I feel that over and over, I meet people who feel threatened by me, affecting me negatively.

The other day a friend told me that even though I am quiet, as opposed to the squeaky wheels, I pose a threat because I do things. I don't just talk about knowing or doing, I actually do it. And by doing it, I show that I know. I demonstrate my capability. I'm in a new field, bam! I've learned all about it in a few months. I'm given a tough project, and as my former boss told me, it's given to me because it was needed yesterday. She wasn't threatened and SHOULD have been, as she really did not do anything.

I just do. I roll up my sleeves and learn what needs to be learned; and, as another friend notes, I "make it look easy". I don't do things to impress people or get ahead, I just do what I feel needs to be done, by me or others. I'm goal centered.

So I don't mean any harm. I don't want your job, I don't want anything else you have. I have everything I need, thank you.

Now while I know deep down that this problem is not mine, it does affect me. I have lost things in life due to someone else's insecurity, not my inability or incompetence. So, basically, I suffer by being a hard and conscientious worker. "It's okay. You don't have to come to that meeting"; "I think we will cut things short today" (said to me at a volunteer position).

Another new friend told me of an issue she had with an employer who suppressed a project of hers. She told me she thought the person was threatened by her creativity.

It just pains me to think that we suppress those who can. And we reward those who cannot ... if they they just stay in their place, play dumb, brag about what they cannot do ... perhaps the world will change with our new President, who does seem to value ability and knowledge. But I'm sure even Obama cannot change the insecurities people feel.