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Sunday, April 05, 2015

On Being Gullible...

A couple of days ago, two of my friends were giving me some grief about being so gullible.  To be honest, the pranks they pull on me are fascinatingly entertaining.  And yes, I am admittedly rather gullible.  I often wonder how many others like me there are out there, if there are people who let their guard down and just let it all hang out.  I don't know when it happened, but something changed in my life that made me far less skeptical within the parameters of most of my intimate relationships. 

As I've given it some thought, I believe that there are many benefits to being gullible:

1.  Open House:  To those within your "tribe," being completely open and vulnerable is a great thing.  The interaction with one another is more revealing and more real that way.

2.  Trust:  In showing weakness, it begins to lose power over us.  When you can look a friend in the eye and know without a shadow of a doubt that no matter how much grief they may give you that at the end of the day, if you get your ass in a pickle, they'll be there and you'll be there for them.

3.  Fun:  It's a lot more fun when the barriers come down and you just be you.  The pressure and anxiety of holding up barriers between one another dissipates and you're left with raw, personal, and complete enjoyment of life and of one another.

4.  Entertainment:  Our gullibility is entertaining to our friends.  They derive a lot of pleasure from seeing us flounder at times, and it may be one of the reasons that they love you.  And that is a great thing.

Sadly, there are painfully negative results of being gullible.  In some relationships, if we're easily convinced of something being true, it leaves us open for deception and manipulation.  Like the line from Spinal Tap, "I believe everything I read," we can be led astray and most often, we are leading ourselves.  It can lead to unbelievable pain and disappointment when time and again we find ourselves in an ugly place, staring in the mirror wondering what in the hell just happened.

Still, I believe it better to be gullible than to be eternally cynical.  Don't get me wrong - I can be an ass where trust is concerned and I am often a real jerk about trust issues.  Being kicked in the face so many times kinda does that to you, but generally, I can say with no hesitation that it's better to be gullible. 

You see, being gullible is fun, it's freeing.  I love seeing my friends laugh and even if it's at my expense, I'd rather exit this planet leaving a smile on someone's face rather than scorn.

Of course, I'm gullible but that is my opinion and I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt it.