I can’t say there’s just one word that describes me. Some people would say that I am: talented, resilient, funny… There are many words I could use here to describe myself but for this post, I think I am reserved.

The Oxford Dictionary defines reserved as: slow to reveal emotion or opinions.

I guess that would be me. Unless I know someone really well, I will keep to myself. I don’t like to show emotion. That goes way back to being a child when my mother would ridicule me for crying. It didn’t matter if I was injured, scared, or just upset about something. She would make fun and then she would say, “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Nice. Thanks Mom. I never said that to my kids. I didn’t want them to feel unheard or that how they felt didn’t matter. As an empath, it’s very hard for me to contain my emotions but I try.

I am slow to reveal opinions. That also goes back to when I was younger. As a teenager and even when I was an adult, every time I had an opinion about something she would say, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” So, there ya go. That’s why I don’t like to give my opinion – but if I know you really well I feel more comfortable having opinion-related conversation. I feel like I can voice my opinions in this blog and sometimes on Facebook but I have been told several times that I was wrong or that I needed to read this or that, or something else that negated my opinion.

So, there’s the one word that describes me. RESERVED.

What one word describes YOU?