THE TATTOO - FRIEND OR ENEMY?

Trends come and go. Leisure suits, platform shoes, short hair/ long hair, these are trends.   Tattoos? Tattoos are not a trend, they are a lifetime commitment  -- and they are with you every day.  Scary. Frankly, I cannot imagine having to wear the same thing every day for the rest of my life.   The flagrant branding tattoos that are being done are definitely not one's friend. In fact, for a young woman I spoke to recently, her even small, more discreet, hand tattoo brought her to tears as she told me how much she hated it and was so sorry she had it.  It was always there and in plain sight. She was now saving money to have it removed. In her mind it definitely had become her enemy.

Known as Job Killers by corporate America, tattoos, (right along with nose rings, and piercings) sabotage one'  chances of getting that job, or that promotion and can affect every aspect of life.  Remember, your image is all about how you are perceived. Tattoos too often are like holding up a red flag: "I have issues."   I know of one bank's HR Dept. that keeps a supply of bandages on hand in case an employee shows up with a visible tattoo.  They must cover it up in efforts not to loose  bank customers. 

In an a seemingly odd comparison, it occurred to me that tattoo-ing could be correlated to wearing diapers.  Think of it:  In the toddler stage of life, we wear diapers; yet as we advance to the next stage, we would be horrified to be caught in diapers.  It proves to be much the same with tattoos, especially the large extreme ones.   Who we are at any given period of our life, will change with time.  The day will come when one  no longer wants to be defined by their markings of the past but rather have people take them for who they currently are.  One would do better to focus on developing what is on the inside.

 

                                   Let your actions define your character.