I just wrote this as part of a response to a previous post but I wanted to bring it out as a blog of it's own because I think it is a fascinating thought:

Someone recently said to me that: there are two winners in every sale of importance (a lot of this talk centered around trying to win contracts): the one who won the bid, and the one who got out of the bidding first. This sales theory is that you need to either win or weed out the one's that aren't right for you as soon as possible and bail out before you invest too much time/money that could be better spent elsewhere.

And the weeding out can happen at many levels. Maybe you weed out knuckleheads who aren't reasonable and with whom you'd have a long-term nightmare of a relationship. Maybe you weed out something you'll never afford. Maybe you weed out people who don't quite seem committed to a project even thought they are talking to you about doing it. Maybe you weed out a group that is so unstable you can't count on anything long term. Etc.

I don't want to say this easily applies to relationships as well, but maybe this is one of the advantages of really being yourself, really speaking plainly: in the short run you may run some people off (even some people who might have been friends in the long run, maybe you'll even "hurt" some people), but in the long run maybe you more quickly gain true friends who can support you, and maybe those who are turned off/hurt sometimes need to look inside themselves for the cause of those feelings if you have been genuinely you with them.?

Anyway, Here's to you! Raise an iced tea (sweetened, unsweetened, Long Island, whatever your taste) and toast your truest self, and, as Emerson said: sound your barbaric Yawp. Let it echo until it finds love, friendship and connection, and even good working relationships. Some people might be scared off. Some might be weirded out, but then some may just be delighted as I am with you my friends.