The 8s are straight up misunderstood.
For those of you who don’t know too much about 8s, Donald Trump is most likely an 8. So here’s a peak into my 8 soul so you can see how there’s so much more to an 8 than they want you to know. These are some things that either were said to me or are still said to me that, for better or worse, sort of explain who I am. “You do not realize how mean you are to people. I’m going to strap a video camera to your head one day, record your conversations with people, and show you how mean you are to them.” Sheesh, laying it on thick, Ma. This one hurt. It still does honestly. I speak my mind; I always have and I always will because it physically hurts me to not say things out loud. But, I never wanted to hurt people, and often after I realized that I hurt someone I would cry. And I mean weep, because I felt so bad that I had hurt them, especially because I knew how badly it hurt. I was a sensitive kid, and I felt things deeply. I grew up around an older brother and all older, male cousins. It was cool to be strong and mean, and it was lame to be weak and nice. And so I learned from a young age how to call people out in a way that was just funny enough that people laughed and just true enough that people got hurt. I still have this ability and I still speak my mind, but I am more aware of other people’s feelings and I care more about being a good person now than I did as a child. “I was afraid of you when I first met you.” Yeah, I know. I am fully aware of people’s first impression of me. Usually it is fear. To be fair, when I was growing up, I didn’t realize that people felt this way about me, but it makes sense if they did. Now, I make a sincere effort every time I meet someone new to make sure that I do not come across as an intimidating person. Much to my dismay, people still tell me they were afraid of me when they first met me. It does make me a little sad, because not only do I never want anyone to be afraid of me, I actually want the exact opposite of that. I want to protect people from being hurt, and I want people to feel protected by me. I put a lot of effort into making sure other people feel free to be themselves around me. I have spent most of my life feeling like I was too much for everyone to handle, so I never want someone to feel that way around me. “You cannot control other people, you can only control your reaction to them. Life is 20% what happens to you, and 80% how you react to it.” This is some of the greatest advice I have ever received, however I see now how this repeated phrase made its way into my subconscious and became engrained in my everyday thought process. My mom said this to me every time I would come home upset about something that someone else had said or done. But, my amazing mother, cool as a cucumber in every sense of the phrase, would just say this. She said it matter of fact as she says everything. And now, as an adult 8, I like to be in control of myself and I am afraid of being controlled by others, by things, by emotions, or by situations. I refuse to let outside circumstances control my reactions. I can only control myself, and so I will. So here’s the tea: 8s are hardcore, but sensitive. They are intimidating, but they want to protect their people. I want to punch through walls when I am mad, but I have cried just watching old people cross the street. I could probably kill someone who hurts my friends or family, but I also cried just hearing about how a teacher at my high school dropped her lunch tray in the cafeteria one day. And I love all of these things about myself. I love how angry I get at injustices, I love how protective I am of my people, and I love that I am not afraid to speak my mind. I find that I am most myself when I use my strength to help those who are vulnerable. I want to be strong, and I want to empower other people to be strong, too.