There is now a follow up to this post that clears up some ambiguity here–”Nobody Likes an Ambiguous Blogger“
Yesterday I was asked the question, “So do you party at night and then get up for church the next morning? Because that would be tough.”
I responded by saying, “I don’t, but people do. I don’t recommend it, and I certainly don’t wish that upon anyone.” Tough is such an understatement, my friends.
I tried to be that guy who was friends with everyone—the guy who acted a certain way around some people, and acted a different way around other people. I was a fake and a fraud—a total phony. I lived a double life, and I hated it. I had to put on a different mask wherever I went and hoped that I didn’t see anyone who knew me as one person while I was acting like a different one. It was a nightmare. It tore me up.
So, I gave that up. There is only one Jordan now. Day or night, summer or winter—what you see is what you get. Do I still try and befriend everyone? Absolutely. Do I change who I am or compromise myself in anyway to become more likable? Absolutely not.
You can’t be all things to all people. If you are, you’re a fake. You can’t be trusted. You don’t even know who you are, and certainly no one else does. (You probably didn’t like that. I apologize, but I know this from first-hand experience.)
Joe Ehrmann, an NFL star from the 70’s and the reason for the book Season of Life (thanks, Yokum) calls it revolving integrity. No matter which way you turn, or what situation you’re in that turns you, people will see that you have the same integrity in every situation. The circumstances may change, but you are the constant—the same no matter what. You might not please everybody, but you’ll be real. You won’t have to try to fool anybody.
If you’re trying to fool people (Yes, I’ve tried. No, it didn’t work), I’d like to share with you a bit of wisdom Honest Abraham Lincoln passed on to me (via my dad)
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
I can’t tell you who to be—that is your decision to make. But for your sake, just be one person because nobody likes a chameleon.