Keep an Open Mind

    

           One characteristic I like about myself is that I try not to be judgmental. I like this characteristic about myself because it keeps me from saying things that may cause problems, and due to the fact that I do not judge things before I try them I can keep an open mind in many situations. I have noticed that the people who always have something to say negative about an individual or a topic tend to always gossip and have a negative era about them. I am proud that I try to stay optimistic no matter the circumstances because then there is a probability that I will not miss out on friendships or opportunities that I may be able to obtain by not judging the things I am being proposed with. I remember a few years ago in school we had gotten this new student in our class and many individuals had been really cruel and malicious to her. Most people would have followed the crowd and ridiculed her in that situation because they would not have wanted to be picked on as well, and most people did follow that crowd. I on the other hand did not. I had decided to keep and open mind and actually get to know her and she turned out to be an extremely kind and funny person. The very next day, when people saw that I had given her a chance, the children that had ridiculed her began to open up to her and in the end we all became pretty good friends with her. If I had judged her without getting to know her before-hand, like everyone else did, then I would not have made a new friend that day, and I would not have learned a very important life lesson. The life lesson I learned is a cliché but a very important one. I learned that you should not judge a book by its cover because you never know what is written within the pages.