I have always been a cautious and reserved individual. I always wear a helmet when I ride my bike. I keep a healthy distance between myself and the edge of a cliff, whether there's a railing or not. I can't stand roller coasters; I even freak out when my dad accelerates his car quickly. I throw out food that's even slightly suspicious. I don't really care for big parties or wild music. Some of this is because of my anxieties. Some of it is because of how I was raised. And much of it is simply my natural personality.

According to most media, and even some people I consider friends, that makes me weird and boring.

I always get excited when I see a character like myself in a movie or on television. Someone who is happy living a quieter life, playing by the rules. However, at least in my experience, this rarely lasts. Usually the character meets someone who breaks them out of their shell, drags them off on an adventure, or shows them all that they've been missing. I hate this trope because this scenario is very familiar to me.

All of my life people have tried to do this to me. Most of them have good intentions. They enjoy something and they want me to enjoy it too. Most of the time I'm okay with this. I want people to enjoy my hobbies too, it's human nature to want to share our experiences and passions. But sometimes it just goes too far. Basketball is a prime example. I like watching other people play basketball, and there was a time I didn't mind playing it either, for class or recess, but I have no interest in playing competitively. I have poor depth perception and I don't care for having people all over me. The problem is that I'm tall.

Apparently, regardless of my vision problems and personal preferences, this means that I was born to play basketball. Most people eventually accepted my decision that basketball just wasn't for me, but not everyone. One individual brought it up every single time we crossed paths. They even started to call me "basketball player" instead of my name. It was kind of nice at first to have an adult take an interest in me and think I was capable, but it got old. After a while it started to feel disrespectful. This person was completely ignoring what I wanted and was interested in, my identity, for who they thought I should be.

I've had friends, people I cared about and even looked up to, mock and disregard my interests. Because they don't enjoy going to museums reading books for hours on end, they can't fathom the idea that I do. They can't imagine that there is more than one way to have a good time. And really this is the root of the problem. We all, I absolutely include myself in this, tend to forget that there are other ways of looking at the world besides our own. We forget that not everyone has the same definition of fun or beauty or excitement. That's a good thing--can you imagine a world where everyone was exactly the same? I don't know about you, but to me that sounds pretty boring. We just have to remember that with this beautiful diversity of opinion and viewpoint comes compromise. We need to consider the personalities and interests of others. If we do, I think we can make our relationships stronger and maybe even make our world a little better.