I used to think that characterizing oneself is, on the whole, a negative trait. My argument was that it is self restriciting. Imagine for example, someone charaterizes himself as an active sports enthusiast but has failed to charaterize (identify) the fact he also enjoys, let's say, cooking. Then, in times of conflict in even the most mundane activities such as watching the TV, this individual will follow his conviction, and steer towards sports channels, further fuelling the mis-notion that sports is all he likes.
But, I have started to feel that it is not such a bad trait after all. There are a lot of activities in this world to pursue; an abundance of interests. If one spends time sampling each and every one of them, under the belief that he can like them all, then he is in for a very unproductive and shallow set of experiences. It might not be a bad idea to select a few (being careful to choose the most desirable out of the many) and commit to them.
In the social environment we live in, characterizing oneself has tremendous advantages. It opens up doors to office interaction, it enables one to search of activities outside of work (hence prevents loneliness), and in general helps one to live a more focussed and fulfilling life. I wouldn't stretch it if I were to say that if one is lost in a sea of potential suitors, then knowing what your interests are can be a quick filter to identify the ones who are eligible.
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