Being Gentle With Yourself

The mental reliving of the past requires as much honesty as we can muster but we will surely embellish our modest triumphs and distort and rationalise our disgraces. That is what we do and some of us are more adept at it than others; for some a  past batting cameo becomes a match saving performance   and for others the act of hanging out clothing on a windy day, in an efficient and technically correct manner, is given internal plaudits way beyond what can be reasonably justified.

I imagine that there are many long standing marriages that survive only because a partner’s flirting with someone else failed to take off.  I also imagine that railway ticket cheats went on to greater things by holding their nerve under the scrutiny of the unexpected ticket inspector. Oh and what about the undiscovered drivers that got away with  driving  fifty yards  down the dual carriage way, the wrong way, in order to rectify a missed turning?    

We must be gentle with ourselves and chart a way forward that protects our self esteem and moral fibre. In so doing we must not be afraid of failure; an intelligent response to that is to welcome the learning experience and push on until the ceiling hurts the head.

WB