Listen

Day 110. Listen.

Following up on yesterday's post about being self-destructive... we all wait on that "next bad thing" to happen. When life is going well, things are good, we should be smiling and happy, there's still that little voice in the back of our minds saying "wait for it." We can't even allow ourselves complete happiness, we have to ruin it by listening to the dark things. The dark things we control, or let control us.

Listen to what you know instead of what you fear. Richard Bach, The Bridge Across Forever.

The mistakes we make stay with us for a lifetime, without question. Yet we forget the successes almost as soon as they happen. We should bask in those memories, remembering the joy we feel for as long as possible. Instead of looking reminding our kids of their bad behaviour, we should acknowledge and reward them for their accomplishments. Rather than point out when chores aren't done, be proactive and congratulate the spouse on cooking a great meal, or putting away their own laundry. Accentuating the negative in others makes it a habit for our own lives, and until we begin noticing the good before the bad, we can't be completely happy.

I know I've spent way too much time looking back, wondering what I should have done different, what mistakes I shouldn't make again. Knowing full well I can't change a damn thing, I shake myself and curse under my breath to "get over it." The fear of making the same errors, doing the same things wrong AGAIN, sometimes that can talk me out of doing anything at all. But I try to remember what I've told you a dozen times at least: unless you are willing to risk EVERYTHING, you gain NOTHING.

As the new year approaches, we begin to think about new goals, new challenges, new resolutions. I rarely make any such promises to myself or anyone else, knowing full well that by February most of them are shot to hell. I do try and reflect on the things I know I could have done differently the past year, and remind myself to not take the same path again.

Lesson One Hundred Ten: Don't walk in your own footsteps: blaze a new trail.

620 to go...