Considered Eccentric

My wife told me yesterday that I am considered 'eccentric' by some of our friends. I was pleased and yet rather taken aback at this characterisation. I have always regarded true eccentrics to be really weird people, and to find myself in their company put me in a position I had not really anticipated. Of course, eccentricity is a matter of degree as well, and I may well be focusing on the end of the scale. Investigating further, I gathered the root of my 'eccentricity' is my by-passing completely the competition/success/status/control paradigm which is the seeming norm for people of my class, education and generation. That was reassuring - I am proud to be eccentric that way!