How To Spot a "Life-Flexer"

Recently, I have come into contact with a personality-type I have dubbed: "life-flexer". A life-flexer is someone who flexes their life...at you. If you say someone is "flexing", you are usually referring to them showing off - much like Will Ferrell's character, Ron Burgundy, who, while doing bicep curls, is a prime example of this. "I'm not sure if you heard me counting, I did over a thousand." Flexer.

In a sentence: "That person is flexing so hard." = "That person is working very hard to show off." Flexer.

If someone is a "life-flexer", they are desperately trying to show off their life, flaunting their achievements or their lifestyle. Usually a life-flexer will make statements that, no matter what they are actually saying, sound something like, "my life is so much better than your life."

Life-flexer.

You can meet a life-flexer anywhere and at anytime, but your chances increase when you are traveling. The life-flexer will raise their nose in the air while saying, "oh, you 'did' Thailand, did you? Well I presume that you went to Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and yes, of course the Full Moon Party...lah-dee-dah." They are like the travel hipsters - the people who only want to travel to a place if you've never heard of it before. The ones who say, "Burma is the "new" Laos; Laos is the "new" Thailand." Hilarious.

Traveling, in my experience, generally makes people humble. For me, it's about not having all of the right answers or doing it "better" than other people; it's about being a fish out of water and taking it one step at a time in an area that I might know little to nothing about. It's about being in difficult situations, finding solace in the humility of people and discovering beauty in yourself and your surroundings. Instead of competing, viewing people as teachers, and yourself as a perpetual student. That's certainly enough to make you humble. Yeah, maybe I'm still falling down Alice's rabbit hole of introspection and reflection, but I'm pretty sure that life is about learning how to love people, not forcing personal experiences down someone else' throat.

"I'm psyched that you've been to Nepal, seen the Great Wall and have two houses in the United States. I imagine that's pretty rad and I'm really excited for you!"

I just think that instead of life flexing, we should be vibe-ing off of each other and the boundless possibilities. Speaking of possibilities, one of the most amazing and most unlife-flexer people I know, my old house mate and great friend from Flaggy town, Tommy Strehlow, messaged me over the weekend, presenting the idea that he might be heading out to Thailand in December - to live! I wanted to puke all over myself! I started getting little-kid-the-night-before-Christmas-feelings and I was overwhelmed with emotions epitomizing sheer 8-year-oldness! Tommy in Thailand? Now, I'm not one of those people who stands a chance at...well, not getting their hopes up, so I won't even pretend that I'm trying to fight it. Honestly, I've got high-apple-pie-in-the-sky-hopes as I would be absolutely thrilled to see his positive and amazing self here for some balcony banter (what we call chilling on our balcony with friends), dancing, exploring and all around good times in South East Asia.

Until then, I'm "doing Thailand" the best way I know how, avoiding life-flexers and looking out for possibilities. Boundless possibilities...



Photo Credit:
1. blocheadclimbing.blogspot.com
2. instapop.com