The "Me" I Like To Be

Today, someone I have known for only a short time told me that I was just like a friend of hers. She went on to say that her friend looked nothing like me--okay, now I was confused--but that I seemed to care about other people, just like her friend.
 
As I said, the person saying all this was not someone I know well, so I found it fascinating that she had a clear enough picture of me to compare me so favorably to someone else in her life. I worked in one place for a long time, so I was used to the people there knowing me not only as a co-worker, but as a person. I don't expect that from people I have only recently met. I mean, how could people know much more about me than how I dress?

It would be nice to think that, over time, you can put enough good energy out there to have that kind of a reputation. But sometimes, it is unclear what kind of energy you put out there on a daily basis, especially when your energy is tested every day by things like unemployment and frustration.
 
Today, I got the feeling that the essence of me, the "me" I was for all those years with the same family-like co-workers, is still here. It's the "me" who bounces back, the "me" who really does enjoy doing for other people, even if it's just offering shared snacks (I mean, who doesn't like a snack?). It's the "me" who really is, as they say, "not washed up yet."

I'm hoping to keep that "me" around for a long time to come.