Flaws and All

"The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends" Nietzsche

We must all learn an acceptable level of tolerance of the people we love and the people who aggravate us. We cannot take upon ourselves the negativeness of others. We must learn to be above that, to live in compassion, kindness, understanding, and empathy. No person is perfect we all have flaws and faults, imperfections and insecurities. We cannot allow ourselves to perpetuate the cycle of negativity by feeding into it. Love conquers hate, hate perpetuates hate. If someone is meeting you with anger you have to realize that you don’t know their full story or the reasoning behind their current mood or situation, do not allow them to affect you or harm you, whatever they are experiencing is their life not yours. Find ways to feel sorry for them and possibly lift them up; this could be the one chance you have to make a positive impact in that person’s life changing the course of their day, week, or life... how simply miraculous is that?

Having Power: Taking Responsibility and Facing our Problems

People are intrinsically lazy we want the quick fix or to ignore things hoping they will disappear. Rarely if ever do our problems or responsibilities disappear, by ignoring them we are essentially compounding the situation by continuing to add more and more to our plate, or more plates to the dishes we should have washed a week ago. Bitching and moaning is a waste of time and does nothing to solve the actual problem; vent, get over it, and make change. If we try to defer or deflect our problems and responsibilities onto other’s we are basically giving them the power over us, saying please come manage me because I am incompetent. We cannot and should not run away from our responsibilities and problems, we need to face them and learn from them. In the end we will have earned experience and skills to better attend to those issues making us better more capable human beings in the long run. So the next time you go to your boss, friend, or loved one think twice before doing so, do you really want to give them power over you? With the internet Google and YouTube anything is possible; most likely someone has already been there and done that before you. All you need to do is break down the situation, understand your options, and exert some effort and time. In the end you are really only learning to invest into yourself and grow into a capable individual, don’t give away your power to be a better you.