Saturday, January 19, 2013

Forgive Me



 I was listening to Oprah’s interview of David Letterman. He spoke about being in therapy, thinking he was a good guy, but living a life that was inconsistent with someone who is a, “good” guy. It occurred to me that, as he has trouble forgiving himself, I have not forgiven myself for any of the things I’ve done in my life of which I’m not proud. And conversely, I never thought I was a good person. It’s the opposite in fact. I always thought I was an evil person because of my thoughts, and because of things I’ve said or weaknesses I’ve had. There are many things I’ve done that I’m certainly not proud of. Most of them, if I had to do it again, I’d probably do it again anyway, because I wanted to, or because I didn’t know a better way. Or because I was attempting to be funny…and wasn’t. But as I realize that I’m 43 years old. I can kinda count on 2 hands the number of big mistakes. I realize that, other than proving I’m human, I’ve not at all proven that I’m a bad person. I’ve probably done the reverse. I’ll tell you why. 1) I realize they were weaknesses, or mistakes in judgment. 2) I feel badly about them. And 3) If I only have about 10 things I can think of in 43 years of living…those are pretty slim odds. Having negative or judgmental thoughts doesn’t make me a bad person. It makes me a little more “normal” than I care to admit. I can generally, not 100% of the time, but mostly, curb my actions before I say something I’ll regret, or do something that I’ll look back on and think…”hmm, maybe not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” But, as the saying goes, “let those among us without sin, cast the first stone.” And, as I’m always saying, many “rights and wrongs” are purely subjective, or decided upon by a society that I don’t always agree with.
 Anyway. I’ve concluded that I should, perhaps, forgive myself for not being, “perfect”. And start, maybe, remembering all the good things I’ve done and said instead of the bad things.
 And PS. If I’ve ever said something to YOU that hurt or offended you, I sincerely apologize. Yes you. You know who you are. I haven’t forgotten. 
 If you've not read my entry on loving yourself...you might appreciate that one too. 

5 comments:

  1. Nice blog post. I also like the zebra pants you're wearing in the picture. lol.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha. Not the comment I was expecting, but thank you! Me too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do get on with the process of forgiving yourself. I've always thought of you as one of the better ones - an EXCEPTIONALLY good person. xoxoxo Shelby

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks honey. You too. Glad you've been with me through all these years. XO

    ReplyDelete
  5. Me too! (I just saw this comment.) :0)

    ReplyDelete