Why Authenticity Is The “Key” When You Deal With Strangers’ Mockings

I am sure you too had a moment in your life that you wondered: “Should I be nice and real to people? Or should I be defensive instead?’’

Maybe a friend turned out to envy you or someone mocked you in a non-expected way.

Both of these experiences, make us consider: “Should I ever let my guard down and stop being defensive towards people ?.”

But before answering that question, let’s talk about:

Why being real and Authentic in our lives is important and why most people, unfortunately, are not:

Most people nowadays wear a mask to project a fake self. This happens because they are not confident enough to accept their real character, so they become fake to feel more secure. . So, they stop being authentic because they are terrified of becoming vulnerable…

And that's kinda true… You see, being yourself is hard. You allow others to have access to your insecurities and your genuine kindness. So, you let yourself defenseless in a sort of way, and you make it easy for someone to offend you.

At the same time though, you feel so well, happy, and free because you allow yourself to be expressed, and you oppress your feelings. And that's a lot!

That been said, how should we behave among strangers? But first, allow me to explain even more:

Dealing with the subtle mocking of people you barely know:

When we behave authentically among strangers, on one hand, we don't overpress ourselves, but on the other hand, we lose our defenses.

For example, in social interactions, if someone tells us something negative in a playful way we have two choices:

• Accept his words as a tease and tease him back too.
• Interpret it as an insult or derision/mocking, and get serious about it.

So, if we choose the first option, on one hand, we create a nice vibe and opportunity for connection with this person. On the other hand, we permit this person to repeat this joke, and because we don't know them well, we let them maybe insult us.

Choosing the second option we don’t create any opportunity for vibing, however, we have defended ourselves.

As we can see, accepting a joke or negative statement cuts both ways:

• By becoming real and authentic we can vibe and connect with people, have fun…
• By becoming defensive we protect ourselves from possible insults or intense mocking.

So finally, let’s answer the question: “Should I ever let my guard down, stop being defensive towards other people ?.”

Decision: How should we react to it?

I don't believe in balance! So either you will be on defensive mode, or either you will be authentic and real.

However, I believe that you should be authentic. But, there is a huge difference between being real and fragile, and being real and able to defend yourself.

In other words, we should stay real and nondefensive, giving permission to people to mess with us, but when they do, we must also be capable of defending ourselves.

This means that we should be willing to offend them back. The attack is the best defense…

Of course, if you are reading this article, you may be used to treat people kindly. Me as well, and that's awesome. Because people are sometimes bad, you shouldn't stop being kind.

But you need to be aware of the dark side of people too. Embrace it and be prepared for it. Because if you don't, you may find yourself fragile. And that's your mistake.

Is the world a Friendly place or a battlefield anyway?

As I love saying: there is no black or white. People sometimes will be kind, generous, and lovely, while other times they will suck, being obnoxious or insulting.

What we can do though, is be prepared for both ups and downs of humans’ behavior. Sometimes, the world can be a friendly place and a blessing but others can be transformed into hell and a war zone. Arguments, insults, revenge… Be ready to adapt to reality.

You are a warrior and you deserve to protect yourself!

“If you know the enemy and you know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” Sun Tzu

A Bonus thing to remember.

Keep in mind that people nowadays run their lives on autopilot, which means very few of them really understand their actions. Be empathetic and overcome them with empathy.

That way, even they had a bad intention, you won't allow yourself to be poisoned by their offensive behavior.

“Never Stop Being A Good Person Because Of Bad People”