There's a saying that a person has no greater critic of himself than himself. I'm not sure that's true of everyone, but I am pretty certain that it's true for me. I do a lot of self-reflection, evaluation, and adjusting. I guess it's a form of perfectionism. It tends to be a cyclical thing... I have a period of good times working toward a goal, I hit the goal, I enjoy a period of time after hitting the goal, then I flounder around without direction or another goal to work toward until I'm in a bleak funk, I isolate myself from everyone for a while, and regroup to start all over again.
Each turn of the cycle, a different theme sticks out as the most important to remember. I like to think that I learn from each cycle and that my life is a series of progressive steps forward. I got to thinking about it though, and realized I'm incredibly fortunate when it comes to "winging it" but I don't necessarily move forward more than through. Today, to clear out some of my headspace, I feel like writing down where I am today, stuff I have learned lately from watching other people in my orbit, the values that are important to me as I work up from a bottoming out on my current cycle. This stuff isn't in any order, isn't intended to help anyone, and probably seems random. Since that's what the inside of my head usually looks like, that shouldn't be surprising haha. Really, it's an evolving list of stuff I think about most days. I always hope to grow.
1. Beware condescension. Having knowledge or experience isn't a license to be a dick, especially when I don't necessarily have the facts to make a judgment anyway..
2. Experience a rut long enough to know it's not a place I want to be again, but don't stay in the rut long enough to call it home! It's easy to take good time for granted... it's just as easy to miss the lesson in a bad time through the misery.
3. "Life is too short to be little." Remember remember remember! No one can get wasted todays back. STOP WASTING THEM!
4. "Not your area". A friend said this to me once, and it has been one of my favorite quotes since. If it doesn't directly affect me or my choices, it's not my problem to worry about. So why worry?
5. Love. At the very least, have compassion. Allowing miserable, selfish people to make me miserable and selfish isn't beneficial to anyone. But seriously, love. And allow myself to be loved. Maybe that's the harder part.
6. None of the good things in my life have come from sitting and waiting for good things to happen. Or whining about why things aren't happening. The good things in my life happened because I decided I wanted them and then did something about it.
6a. My next lesson in life is figuring out how to make life work when it isn't just me that decisions rely upon. I guess that's growing up.
Each turn of the cycle, a different theme sticks out as the most important to remember. I like to think that I learn from each cycle and that my life is a series of progressive steps forward. I got to thinking about it though, and realized I'm incredibly fortunate when it comes to "winging it" but I don't necessarily move forward more than through. Today, to clear out some of my headspace, I feel like writing down where I am today, stuff I have learned lately from watching other people in my orbit, the values that are important to me as I work up from a bottoming out on my current cycle. This stuff isn't in any order, isn't intended to help anyone, and probably seems random. Since that's what the inside of my head usually looks like, that shouldn't be surprising haha. Really, it's an evolving list of stuff I think about most days. I always hope to grow.
1. Beware condescension. Having knowledge or experience isn't a license to be a dick, especially when I don't necessarily have the facts to make a judgment anyway..
2. Experience a rut long enough to know it's not a place I want to be again, but don't stay in the rut long enough to call it home! It's easy to take good time for granted... it's just as easy to miss the lesson in a bad time through the misery.
3. "Life is too short to be little." Remember remember remember! No one can get wasted todays back. STOP WASTING THEM!
4. "Not your area". A friend said this to me once, and it has been one of my favorite quotes since. If it doesn't directly affect me or my choices, it's not my problem to worry about. So why worry?
5. Love. At the very least, have compassion. Allowing miserable, selfish people to make me miserable and selfish isn't beneficial to anyone. But seriously, love. And allow myself to be loved. Maybe that's the harder part.
6. None of the good things in my life have come from sitting and waiting for good things to happen. Or whining about why things aren't happening. The good things in my life happened because I decided I wanted them and then did something about it.
6a. My next lesson in life is figuring out how to make life work when it isn't just me that decisions rely upon. I guess that's growing up.
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