We are all labelled. Sometimes by society, sometimes by people around you.

Even thought it has nothing related to you at all.

For example people labeled me as “the girl who eats a lot”. ?but the truth is I am on diet.

1.

The funny thing is, the label is always reminded by others so that you started to believe it.

My mom knows so well about it.

When I was young, like 8 years old, ?she encouraged me to do house work. After I did the house work well, she told everyone I was a housework genius.

Then every guest who visit our home knows that. They said, wow, you are such a housework genius. I would always thank them with a smile and keep cleaning the kitchen floor.

Then my parents friends knows that, ? each time we visit their home, they said, wow, you are such a housework genius. I would thank them with a ?smile and keep making the dumplings for our dinner.

Then, the whole community knows that. Each time I met them at the market, they said, wow, you are such a housework genius. I would thank them with a smile and keep picking up the best potato into my basket.

Yes, I was jeopardized by my label of “housework genius”. I have to do housework so hard to be a real “housework genius”,

until I leave home for collage.

At Collage I met the most lazy roommates ever. So in that paradise that no one knows what is “housework genius”, actually no one even knows what is “housework", I get rid of the label. Even the price to pay is living with a pile of garbages.

2.

Sometime, you can not see the labels, but it is there, and effects you profoundly.

When I was in primary school, I want to become a scientist. And started to be interested in mathmatics.

Once in the end of a semester, I went to school to take my grade report. ?Where I met a classmates father. He saw my grade report, and talked to me. “oh You are good at math. But when you enter middle school, be careful. Because girls are never good at science"

At that time, I thought, this man was crazy.

But I never thought that how many times I will be told of those words, and ?how profoundly I was ?effected by that.

Since middle school, as girls around me started to act like what they said, I lost the confidence as a girl.

If a girl’s label is “not good at science”, I will never be a scientist. So, I decided to act like a boy.

I cut my hair short, never wear skirts, only make friends with boys, only talk about politics,military and basketball.

But secretly, I paint figures of beautiful girl with long hair and gorgeous dresses in my note book. I was longing to be part of girls who share their secrets together in the other corner of classroom

I concentrated on schoolwork even more.

As I wish, I entered Computer science department in a collage as the top students of our high school.

In the collage, there are 32 students in our class, only 5 are girls. The 5 of us became the best friends of our lives. What beyond my imagination is, other girls are beautiful and sensitive. The girl who taught me how to do makeups also help me to understand computer composition principle. The other girl who was obsessed with online shopping also was the best students at calculus in our class. The third girl was chosen to work in our collage broadcast station because of her sweet voice, was alway my best partner as the programming homework team.

They keep ?being themselves, be proud of their girlish part. And they are all good at science!

At that time, I realize that, you have to be alert with the labels put on you. Some labels are not the truth, they are just prejudices.

In this situation, you can choose ?pretending to be someone else, like me. Or ?just like my excellent girl friends, rip off the label, and be yourself.

3. Rip off the label is not always ?easy.

There is a friend we know each other since kindergarden, he was a thin and timid boy. all his friends are girls. Not because he is a playboy, but because only girls won’t bully him. Everyone labeled him as “weak”.

After graduate from collage, he told me he started to work out in gym, I did not take it seriously.

I just know he keep going to gym everyday, keep cooking by himself.

Several years ago, we traveled together. After we walked a long way, I complained that I can not move any more. He picked up my backpack, encouraged me to keep going. I suddenly noticed that he is not that chicken boy anymore.

After that each time we met, I would admire his thicker shoulder and stronger arms, I notice that he already changed his label from weak to tough.

The society, the community you live in, will put on labels on you and me.

When you found the labels are stoping you to be a better you, rip them off, even though sometimes it needs hard work. Remember, change starts with you.