There are two types of people in this world: Those with credibility, and who people consider reliable, and those who not only have no credibility, they don’t care. It’s a personal positive character trait they don’t possess. But I guarantee you they appreciate and recognize when others have higher standards for themselves. Those standards are what convert and translate into credibility.
People have respect for someone when that someone does what they say. And relationships can be ruined when someone says they’re going to do something if another family member does, and then not following up on their word. Talk is cheap, remember, so actions are what count, and people will remember actions. (And they may very well remember your words when remembering that you didn’t live up to them. That’s bad in both personal terms and business.)
Something to remember about credibility is that it’s like trust in that it takes a lot to establish, but can be lost in an instant. And it’s not always not just living up to your word. It’s having typos in your writing. There’s nothing that will cost you faster than having an egregious typo glaring at the reader, especially in academic writing. I’ve heard so many people in my life (who are among the sloppy) declare it doesn’t matter; the reader knows what they mean. That’s lazy, inconsiderate to the reader, and makes the writer look ignorant and at the very least apathetic to detail.
The matter of credibility also includes how you take care of yourself. This fact is meant for my daughter, whose mother allowed her to shave half her hair off her head recently. Other half: past her shoulders. She looks MUCH cuter with a page boy. She’ll always be the most beautiful thing in the universe to me, but I’m eager for it to grow out. And she seems happy with it, which is important and what I told her. I have no idea where she’s picking up on these “styles” and I’m afraid to imagine. I’m not allowed to take photos of her or else I’d post one of her new appearances.
Something I think about as I look at the thousands of photos I have of her up until last May is that I’m going to be missing a year of her life in photos. For someone who is constantly videoing and photographing her, that’s been rough. Those memories and photos are priceless to me and have been taken away along with so much else.
Something I liken dressing sloppily or not taking care of your appearance to are both brick & mortar stores you might see on the side of the road whose signs are either missing letters, have lights burned out, weeds growing all in the crackled parking lot that needs resurfacing, and the place looks like no one cares about how it looks. Or a company’s website that is in the same condition, online. Because no one does care enough to act. So how does that reflect on how they run their business? Not too good.
Same with people and how they take care of themselves. Physically as well as grooming, hygiene, and dressing. My daughter showed up yesterday wearing a Minecraft pajama onesie. That was it. No daytime clothes. And for a long time, she was constantly showing up underwearless. 5 times, and it’s been a problem before. That’s negligent. Among other things on her mother’s part, I’m unallowed to explain because it of course is disparaging. You can’t discuss any of it without it NOT being disparaging when someone is being so horrible in so many ways. To several people. The worst part: The only option I have right now is to call Child Protective Services on her, but getting the government more involved in our lives is not the best idea for anyone. Call me cynical at this stage of this horrible experiment. So I have to choose the best worst choice which is to allow Cecelia’s mother to neglect her until I can step in again. It’s coming. Not fast enough, but it’s coming I promise.